Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Driehaus Capital Management LLC

Driehaus Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 53.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,410 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,967 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,425,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $152.75 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $158.93 and its 200 day moving average is $175.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353 over the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $178.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.75.

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.