Summit Global Investments Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Summit Global Investments reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 131,686 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,106 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.6% of Summit Global Investments’ portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 20,990.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,171,151,000 after acquiring an additional 6,157,413 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 29,866,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,792,317,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694,621 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $513,024,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,154,651,000 after buying an additional 2,626,431 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.49.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 88,665 shares of company stock worth $16,198,310 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6 %

GOOGL opened at $157.07 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $147.22 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $178.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS 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 dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

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.