Baupost Group LLC MA Has $271.57 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Baupost Group LLC MA trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,425,988 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 39,600 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 7.9% of Baupost Group LLC MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Baupost Group LLC MA’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $271,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $159.40 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.99. 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 $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 118,297 shares of company stock worth $20,804,770. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.71.

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.