DF Dent & Co. Inc. Decreases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,115,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,019 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.7% of DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $212,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,894,651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,606 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,824,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,870,181,000 after buying an additional 875,480 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,166,070,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after buying an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its position in Alphabet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,483,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,615,516,000 after acquiring an additional 144,170 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.65.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $158.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.56. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $148.20 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 87,297 shares of company stock worth $15,936,270 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.