Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 273,630 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 20,624 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.9% of Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $45,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $171.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $127.90 and a one year high of $191.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $168.84 and a 200 day moving average of $170.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 8.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 163,624 shares of company stock worth $27,803,730 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.