Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by abrdn plc

abrdn plc trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,135,422 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,040,411 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.6% of abrdn plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. abrdn plc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $717,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,746,764,000 after acquiring an additional 12,070,681 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4,894.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,445,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,606,670,000 after buying an additional 5,336,359 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $634,465,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $601,545,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $407,367,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 10.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.54 and a 1 year high of $174.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Mizuho upped their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price (up previously from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $141.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.82.

Alphabet Company 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.