Waddell & Associates LLC Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Waddell & Associates LLC cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,371 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Winslow Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 3,888,268 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $740,482,000 after acquiring an additional 190,847 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $1,187,000. Straightline Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $422,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $564,000. Finally, Capula Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,794,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8 %

Alphabet stock opened at $146.58 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $174.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid 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 0.55%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.