Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Position Reduced by Covey Capital Advisors LLC

Covey Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,718 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,080 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 4.3% of Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307,345 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,783,364,000 after buying an additional 4,473,901 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,749,806,000 after buying an additional 593,345 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,153,481,000 after buying an additional 727,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,556,577 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,962,389,000 after acquiring an additional 104,859 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $291.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $254.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.73. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $291.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 221,796 shares of company stock worth $53,983,001 over the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several research reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. China Renaissance raised their price target on Alphabet from $207.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. CICC Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $240.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (up from $250.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $304.10.

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.