Quantbot Technologies LP Trims Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Quantbot Technologies LP lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 70.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,549 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,093 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,247,208,000 after buying an additional 259,213 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,573,125,000 after acquiring an additional 3,113,395 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,824,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,870,181,000 after purchasing an additional 875,480 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,483,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,615,516,000 after buying an additional 144,170 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8 %

Alphabet stock opened at $164.08 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.20 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $182.36 and its 200-day moving average is $178.26. The company has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 104,812 shares of company stock valued at $19,336,979 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.