Verus Capital Partners LLC Sells 14,072 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Verus Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 112,236 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 14,072 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.7% of Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Alphabet by 14.4% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 7,275,757 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 238,403 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 597,756 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% during the second 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 purchasing an additional 1,949,476 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $169.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $168.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.90 and a 52 week high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

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.