Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Panagora Asset Management Inc.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,329,250 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 28,482 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.0% of Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $207,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $213.53 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $215.34. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $191.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,287,137.64. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $47,225,230. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.