Amundi Sells 4,236,306 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 19.1%, selling over 4 million shares and now holding 1.0% of its portfolio in the company.
• Alphabet reported earnings of $2.31 per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, with revenues reaching $96.43 billion, a 13.8% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Amundi decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 19.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,899,826 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,236,306 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.0% of Amundi's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Amundi owned approximately 0.15% of Alphabet worth $2,733,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,605,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,263,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 10,648 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,664,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG traded up $2.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $235.17. The company had a trading volume of 26,091,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,868,892. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.89. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $236.13.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp set a $265.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.56.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.