Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stake Trimmed by Venator Management LLC

Venator Management LLC reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 229,780 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,325 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 12.7% of Venator Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Venator Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $42,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Alphabet by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,815,986,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876,534 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $1,378,708,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,355,724,000 after acquiring an additional 7,470,042 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 51.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,416,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,923,000 after acquiring an additional 2,190,795 shares during the period. Finally, Vima LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 178,253.1% during the first quarter. Vima LLC now owns 2,001,122 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $304,691,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000,000 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $163.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $121.46 and a twelve month high of $193.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $166.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.58.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,713,977.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total transaction of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,655.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 202,667 shares of company stock valued at $33,964,256. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.86.

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.