Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Position Trimmed by Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 78.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,121 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 57,179 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.2% of Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,720 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,042,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Alcosta Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Alcosta Capital Management Inc. now owns 38,730 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,376,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 24,001 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,571,000 after purchasing an additional 3,072 shares in the last quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 25,022 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,765,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darden Wealth Group Inc raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Darden Wealth Group Inc now owns 14,868 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,831,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.65.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $147.74 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.43. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $147.54 and a 12 month high of $208.70. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet 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.