Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Trimmed by Saratoga Research & Investment Management

Saratoga Research & Investment Management decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 932,640 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 32,106 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 6.8% of Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $154,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,590,960. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total transaction of $3,759,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,129,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $355,743,153.42. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 178,957 shares of company stock valued at $31,358,687. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.6 %

Alphabet stock opened at $188.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.69.

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.