Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,540 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 364 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,882 shares of company stock worth $17,934,130 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $165.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.03 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $185.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Ten 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

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.