Balentine LLC Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Balentine LLC trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 98.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,614 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 123,326 shares during the period. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,144,172,000 after purchasing an additional 4,064,073 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after acquiring an additional 7,275,757 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,011,412,000 after buying an additional 238,403 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,178,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,310,925,000 after buying an additional 1,429,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,344,778,000 after purchasing an additional 597,756 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $161.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $164.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.98. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.21 and a 52 week high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $196.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.08.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total value of $4,113,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,204,885 shares in the company, valued at $403,141,173.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total value of $4,113,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,204,885 shares in the company, valued at $403,141,173.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 180,167 shares of company stock valued at $29,762,606. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.