Schnieders Capital Management LLC Sells 7,633 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Schnieders Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 107,102 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,633 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 4.0% of Schnieders Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Schnieders Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.9 %

Alphabet stock opened at $167.11 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $186.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.48. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $138.99 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly 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 predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOGL. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction 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. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,682 shares of company stock worth $17,901,024 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Alphabet

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.