Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 122,332 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,949,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 122,332 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.3% of Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $558,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,910,838,000 after buying an additional 743,369 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,154,651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,431 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,268,933,000 after buying an additional 1,237,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,175,106,000 after buying an additional 523,416 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,182 shares of company stock valued at $18,192,354. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $165.87 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $187.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.56. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $136.13 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted 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 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 0.48%. 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.