Acadian Asset Management LLC Sells 388,456 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC has decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 6.6%, selling 388,456 shares, and now holds approximately $845.76 million worth of the stock.
• Analysts have shown positive sentiment towards Alphabet, with multiple firms raising their price targets, including Barclays, which increased its target to $250.00 and Royal Bank of Canada, raising theirs to $260.00.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.4%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 8th.

Acadian Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,469,471 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 388,456 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.4% of Acadian Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Acadian Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $845,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 79,160 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $14,985,000 after acquiring an additional 4,756 shares during the period. Finally, Triumph Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 5,470 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $191.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Westpark Capital increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $221.44.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.4%

GOOGL opened at $239.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's 50 day moving average is $198.22 and its 200-day moving average is $176.17. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $240.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.

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