Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Natixis

Natixis reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 79.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 310,781 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,168,075 shares during the period. Natixis’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $59,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $281,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 140.6% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,734 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,806,000 after buying an additional 8,610 shares in the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $927,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,184,399 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,039,000 after buying an additional 704,875 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $153.36 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $167.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS 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%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.88.

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.