Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Reduces Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 35,470 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,075 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.5% of Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during 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 during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 55.1% during the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 6,927 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 2,462 shares during the period. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $837,000. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.6% in the third quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 17,294 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,893,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 22.3% in the third quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 14,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,392,000 after buying an additional 2,610 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $174.70 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.55 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $192.98 and a 200 day moving average of $177.64.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment 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.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.