Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Position Reduced by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

Key Points

• DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale has reduced its position in Alphabet Inc.'s shares by 9.5%, holding 1,735,763 shares after selling 181,314 shares in the second quarter.
• Research analysts have increased their price targets for Alphabet, with Morgan Stanley raising it from $210 to $270 and TD Cowen from $270 to $280, indicating strong bullish sentiment.
• Insider trading activity has been notable, with CAO Amie Thuener O'toole and insider John Kent Walker both selling significant shares, leading to decreases in their respective positions of 13.84% and 35.65%.

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,735,763 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 181,314 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale's holdings in Alphabet were worth $315,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. ACT Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the second quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 1,625 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the second quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 5,126 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Kooman & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the second quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 4,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% in the second quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,742 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brueske Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the second quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,194 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Alphabet from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $246.26.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 246,150 shares of company stock worth $55,805,379 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

Alphabet stock opened at $252.53 on Thursday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $235.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.81. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $257.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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