AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Trims Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 25.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,702,847 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,956,504 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 5.1% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,079,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the third quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,598,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. raised its stake in Alphabet by 27.9% during the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,516 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its position in Alphabet by 10.7% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,037,196,000 after purchasing an additional 611,233 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,700,000 after buying an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 61,540 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,206,000 after buying an additional 11,481 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.1 %

Alphabet stock opened at $175.42 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.66 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $191.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.14. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital increased their price target on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.