Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Sells 2,604 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Pallas Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1.5%, now holding 173,847 shares, valued at approximately $30.6 million.
• Recent analyst upgrades have raised Alphabet's price targets significantly, with Royal Bank of Canada increasing their target from $220 to $260, reflecting optimism about the company's performance.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing a dividend yield of 0.3%, with a payout ratio of 8.95% as of the latest reporting period.

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,847 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,604 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.2% of Pallas Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $30,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GSG Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.2% during the second quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 7,440 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the second quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 52,789 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 29.8% in the second quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,977 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,602 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.4% in the second quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,991 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,937,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, David J Yvars Group boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.4% in the second quarter. David J Yvars Group now owns 4,802 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,236,785. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Roth Capital boosted their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.54.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $2.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $254.72. 55,452,697 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,316,584. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $256.00. The business's 50-day moving average is $209.36 and its 200-day moving average is $180.36.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

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.