Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 421,390 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 24,808 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $79,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in Alphabet by 6.8% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 728,575 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $120,834,000 after buying an additional 46,677 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 3.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,871,384,000 after buying an additional 337,031 shares during the period. TRU Independence Asset Management 2 LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $820,000. Finally, GDS Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.0% in the third quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 114,056 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $18,916,000 after acquiring an additional 3,354 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $170.56 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $181.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.22 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

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, beating 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.