Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,823,048 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,267,877 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.2% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.36% of Alphabet worth $7,268,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after acquiring an additional 238,403 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,274,184,000 after acquiring an additional 418,204 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Alphabet by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 23,263,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,237,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,949,476 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 43,005.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,086,250,000 after acquiring an additional 18,700,111 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,183,524 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,015,737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,556 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. DA Davidson started coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $172.64 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $169.30 and its 200 day moving average is $170.31. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.68 and a 12 month high of $191.75.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.75, for a total transaction of $123,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,524 shares in the company, valued at $4,385,565. The trade was a 2.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total transaction of $2,780,226.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,280,514.53. This trade represents a 27.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 163,624 shares of company stock worth $27,803,730. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.