Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Eschler Asset Management LLP's 4th Largest Position

Key Points

• Eschler Asset Management LLP reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 14.9%, making it the 4th largest position in their portfolio, worth approximately $2.54 million after selling 2,861 shares.
• Insider trades showed significant sell-offs, including CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares for about $6.5 million and John Kent Walker selling 23,820 shares, indicating a potential decrease in confidence.
• Alphabet's stock has seen a 9.1% increase recently, with a strong earnings per share report of $2.31, exceeding analyst expectations.

Eschler Asset Management LLP lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 14.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,298 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,861 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 6.4% of Eschler Asset Management LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Eschler Asset Management LLP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cinctive Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,890,000. Concorde Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 45.4% in the 1st quarter. Concorde Asset Management LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Copperleaf Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Copperleaf Capital LLC now owns 15,376 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,378,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Curi RMB Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 368,805 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $57,032,000 after purchasing an additional 16,833 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,637,000 after acquiring an additional 13,371 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at $492,281,408.64. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 222,210 shares of company stock worth $41,742,155 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 9.1%

Alphabet stock opened at $230.66 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $193.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.80. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $231.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Capital boosted their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $221.31.

Alphabet 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.

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