Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Howard Capital Management Group LLC

Key Points

• Howard Capital Management Group LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 0.4%, now holding 305,140 shares worth approximately $53.78 million, making it the firm's 8th largest position.
• Several institutional investors, such as Vanguard Group and Nuveen LLC, have increased their stakes in Alphabet, reflecting strong institutional interest.
• Analysts have recently upgraded their price targets for Alphabet, with JMP Securities raising it to $290.00 and many others suggesting a strong buy outlook.

Howard Capital Management Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 305,140 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 3.7% of Howard Capital Management Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Howard Capital Management Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $53,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,317,606,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after buying an additional 14,307,345 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 307.6% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,302,644 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,593,201,000 after buying an additional 7,774,811 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 4,473,901 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 33,403,871 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,034,992,000 after buying an additional 3,537,173 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. 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, September 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company'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 value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 243,285 shares of company stock valued at $50,994,787. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $244.90 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $219.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.66. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $256.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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