Greenspring Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Greenspring Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,027 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 215 shares during the quarter. Greenspring Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Morton Capital Management LLC CA lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 11,665 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,935,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares during the period. Cypress Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 24,693 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,095,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Hyperion Partners LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 22.1% during the third quarter. Hyperion Partners LLC now owns 2,909 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 129,270 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $21,439,000 after buying an additional 742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 5.9% during the third quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 11,456 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,900,000 after buying an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $185.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.66 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.14. The firm has a market cap of $2.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G 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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.62.

Alphabet Company 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.