Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Sells 31,700 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 64.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,200 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 31,700 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.8% of Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,394,181,000 after purchasing an additional 51,226 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd 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. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 276,409 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,213,000 after acquiring an additional 14,847 shares during the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP increased its position in Alphabet by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 21,313 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.8% in the third quarter. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC now owns 10,039 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,882 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,130 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.8 %

GOOG opened at $167.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.13 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.