KRS Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

KRS Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,375 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 265 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.6% of KRS Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. KRS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $15,441,917,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Alphabet by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $68,980,354,000 after purchasing an additional 6,374,756 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its position in Alphabet by 39,754.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 6,025,667 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $841,725,000 after purchasing an additional 6,010,548 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 143.7% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,072,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,288,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,170,229 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $167.18 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.21 and a 52 week high of $191.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $175.42 and a 200 day moving average of $162.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,728,640.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total value of $278,775.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at $5,728,640.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,209,888.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,065 shares of company stock valued at $23,051,543 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.74.

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.