Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Sustainable Growth Advisers LP

Sustainable Growth Advisers LP reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,716,918 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 84,496 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 2.5% of Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $481,954,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Advisory Resource Group raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 8,643 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Capco Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $89,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 98,875 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,540,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040 shares during the last quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. now owns 10,141 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,799,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 1,151,411 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $204,249,000 after purchasing an additional 70,311 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,369,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $592,760,192.85. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 221,796 shares of company stock valued at $53,983,001. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $276.98 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $257.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.48. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $292.36. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. Mizuho set a $325.00 price target on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities set a $279.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $310.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.81.

Alphabet Company 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.