E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,229,560 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 102,580 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 5.4% of E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $232,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Williams & Novak LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 45.7% during the 3rd quarter. Williams & Novak LLC now owns 4,389 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Axiom Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 116.6% during the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 26,599 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,454,000 after purchasing an additional 14,318 shares in the last quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the third quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 61,650 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the third quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 143,529 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $23,804,000 after purchasing an additional 2,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marion Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Marion Wealth Management now owns 21,327 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $186.14 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $192.37 and a 200 day moving average of $174.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DZ Bank lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted 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. Pivotal Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

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.