Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 357,907 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 29,153 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 0.9% of Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $63,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Smart Money Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 6,181 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $956,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Bank Hapoalim BM grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the first quarter. Bank Hapoalim BM now owns 9,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,442,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in Alphabet by 9.2% during the first quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 31,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,672 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $291.31 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $291.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $3.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $254.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.73.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. New Street Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $275.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citic Securities upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,236,785. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 221,796 shares of company stock worth $53,983,001 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

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.