Virtue Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Virtue Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 46.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,302 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 12,635 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 516,559,609 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $91,033,300,000 after acquiring an additional 6,733,278 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 141,615,284 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,857,017,000 after purchasing an additional 4,224,497 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,783,364,000 after purchasing an additional 4,473,901 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Alphabet by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,749,806,000 after purchasing an additional 593,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,153,481,000 after purchasing an additional 727,335 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total value of $7,910,825.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,402,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,699,785.79. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 226,128 shares of company stock worth $61,326,372 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. 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 report on Thursday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Alphabet from $260.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised their price objective on Alphabet from $233.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $288.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $312.65.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $313.72 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $328.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $277.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.91. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.94, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Alphabet 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.