Fred Alger Management LLC Trims Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management LLC has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) by 9.5%, selling 187,430 shares, and now owns approximately 1.6% of the company's total shares.
• Alphabet reported a quarterly revenue of $96.43 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, along with an EPS of $2.31, which surpassed the consensus estimate of $2.12.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet at an average price of $229.73, which reflects a 1.32% decrease in his ownership of the stock.

Fred Alger Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 9.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,782,785 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 187,430 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.6% of Fred Alger Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Fred Alger Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $278,525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Challenger Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $201,000. First Dallas Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 38.7% in the first quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 7,440 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 262.9% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 13,126 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,051,000 after acquiring an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% in the first quarter. Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC now owns 8,877 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Alphabet by 1,191.1% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,543,988 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $238,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,405 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. KeyCorp set a $265.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.56.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of GOOG traded up $5.78 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $239.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,727,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,278,212. The company has a 50 day moving average of $197.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.12. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $240.59. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. 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:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

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.