Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stake Lessened by Next Century Growth Investors LLC

Key Points

• Next Century Growth Investors LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 12.4%, selling 6,466 shares to hold 45,473 shares valued at about $7.03 million.
• Alphabet recently reported $96.43 billion in quarterly revenue, exceeding analysts' expectations, with an earnings per share of $2.31, surpassing estimates by $0.16.
• The company's stock was up 0.6%, and it has a current market cap of $2.57 trillion with notable price targets raised by various brokerages to as high as $225.00.

Next Century Growth Investors LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 12.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,473 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,466 shares during the period. Next Century Growth Investors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Okabena Investment Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 26.0% in the first quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 15,706 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,429,000 after acquiring an additional 3,238 shares during the last quarter. Orion Investment Co boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% in the first quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 4,405 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $1,381,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% in the first quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 2,721,620 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $420,871,000 after acquiring an additional 109,753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RB Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 33,391 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,164,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of GOOGL traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $212.91. 39,702,089 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 29,138,272. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.96. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $214.65. 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:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet 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 sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $47,225,230. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

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.