Quadrant Capital Group LLC Sells 1,655 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Quadrant Capital Group LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 41,726 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,655 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.5% of Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $147.74 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $177.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.54 and a 52-week high of $208.70. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Westpark Capital started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.65.

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.