Symmetry Partners LLC Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Symmetry Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 36.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 53,890 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 30,347 shares during the period. Symmetry Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Meritage Group LP boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 55.9% during the 4th quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded down $2.64 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $174.60. The stock had a trading volume of 14,063,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,799,545. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.93, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.35 and a twelve month high of $180.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $168.53 and its 200 day moving average is $151.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total value of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,870.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 158,458 shares of company stock valued at $25,731,103 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.26.

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.