Point72 Europe London LLP Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Point72 Europe London LLP trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 57.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 223,887 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.7% of Point72 Europe London LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Point72 Europe London LLP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $25,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $47,225,230 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $212.91 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $190.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.96. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $214.65.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

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.