Triple Frond Partners LLC Has $153.75 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Triple Frond Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 807,314 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 29,536 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 19.9% of Triple Frond Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Triple Frond Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $153,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $169.93 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.30. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $148.20 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. 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 (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 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 fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.