Sandy Spring Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sandy Spring Bank decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 140,629 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,911 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of Sandy Spring Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $26,621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,598,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $273,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 27.9% in the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after acquiring an additional 5,516 shares in the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 37,054 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $154.33 on Monday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $179.66 and a 200-day moving average of $177.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $147.22 and a 12 month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,992 shares of company stock worth $16,097,111 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.59.

About Alphabet

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.