Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,054,379 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,335 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 3.4% of Candriam S.C.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $556,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $162.14 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $191.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total value of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 180,167 shares of company stock worth $29,762,606 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $176.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Eight research 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.08.

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.