Krane Funds Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,268 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 718 shares during the period. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $1,551,533,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,376,066,000 after buying an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5,712.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,367,831 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $831,810,000 after buying an additional 4,292,689 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,470,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,189,592 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.65.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $147.74 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $177.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.55. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $143.70 and a 1 year 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 0.54%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

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.