X Square Capital LLC Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

X Square Capital LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,239 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 226 shares during the period. X Square Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $281,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in 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. Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $927,000. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 172.9% in the third quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,254,000 after acquiring an additional 57,810 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $164.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.26. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.20 and a twelve month high of $208.70.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 104,812 shares of company stock valued at $19,336,979 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

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.