Candriam S.C.A. Sells 53,266 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Candriam S.C.A. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 941,072 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 53,266 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.0% of Candriam S.C.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $179,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&G PLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $2,240,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 14.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,642,000 after buying an additional 14,738 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,488,000 after buying an additional 4,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $927,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $175.75 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $189.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.94. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.80 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

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.