Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Epiq Partners LLC

Key Points

• Epiq Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 9.9%, selling 2,905 shares during the second quarter, now owning 26,444 shares valued at approximately $4.66 million.
• Insider transactions included CAO Amie Thuener O'toole selling 2,778 shares and CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares, reflecting a decrease in their ownership by 13.84% and 1.34% respectively.
• Alphabet's stock received multiple upgrades from analysts, with BMO Capital Markets increasing the price target from $208 to $225 and a consensus target price currently at $222.85.

Epiq Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 9.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,444 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,905 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.4% of Epiq Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Epiq Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307,345 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,783,364,000 after purchasing an additional 4,473,901 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,749,806,000 after purchasing an additional 593,345 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,153,481,000 after purchasing an additional 727,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,556,577 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,962,389,000 after acquiring an additional 104,859 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.69 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $254.72. The stock had a trading volume of 55,452,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,316,584. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $256.00. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $209.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.36.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.54.

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.