Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by abrdn plc

abrdn plc reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,940,410 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 365,307 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.1% of abrdn plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. abrdn plc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,133,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Trust Point Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 52,938 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,021,000 after buying an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,263 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares during the period. E&G Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 50,321 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,526,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 15,455 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,926,000 after purchasing an additional 2,258 shares during the period. Finally, F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $263,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup cut their price target 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. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, DZ Bank cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $183.61 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $192.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.89.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results 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%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.