Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Sonora Investment Management Group LLC

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 786 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 43,005.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,086,250,000 after acquiring an additional 18,700,111 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 587.4% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,772,991,000 after acquiring an additional 9,135,056 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 116.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,437,957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,662,809 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Alphabet by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 115.4% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,939,456 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,264,022,000 after purchasing an additional 3,718,420 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $185.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $191.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.62.

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.