Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Decreased by Parnassus Investments LLC

Parnassus Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,459,206 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 717,593 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 4.4% of Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Parnassus Investments LLC owned about 0.09% of Alphabet worth $1,979,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $170.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.86. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $147.22 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.