OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 730,268 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 71,085 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 3.9% of OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $138,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Bennett Selby Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. DA Davidson increased their price objective on 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 report on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Trading Down 4.9 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $154.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.92. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $147.22 and a 12 month high of $207.05.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Alphabet 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.