Bailard Inc. Lowers Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Bailard Inc. reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 469,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,829 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.3% of Bailard Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $88,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norden Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 55,382 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,733 shares in the last quarter. IFG Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 13,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,469,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 64,618 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,358,000 after purchasing an additional 12,800 shares in the last quarter. Maia Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 32,418 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,218,000 after purchasing an additional 3,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 19,619 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,714,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $165.49 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $185.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.46. 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 stock has a market cap 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 52-week low of $140.03 and a 52-week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,882 shares of company stock worth $17,934,130 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.