Bailard Inc. Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Bailard Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 238 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,649,838,000 after purchasing an additional 9,703,425 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,600,970,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,234,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,852,868,000 after purchasing an additional 4,348,188 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 198.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,882,882 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $547,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,583,128 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 93.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,591,383 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $647,064,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,950 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG traded up $14.42 on Friday, reaching $172.37. 22,014,553 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,186,350. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.42 and a twelve month high of $176.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $148.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.51.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.79 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $159.86.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at $362,516,961.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.