Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Pictet North America Advisors SA

Key Points

• Pictet North America Advisors SA has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 5.6%, owning 145,629 shares after selling 8,590 shares during the second quarter.
• Alphabet's stock has received mixed analyst ratings, with Robert W. Baird upgrading its target price to $275.00 and BNP Paribas downgrading its rating from "strong-buy" to "hold."
• The company has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, yielding around 0.3%, with an 8.95% dividend payout ratio.

Pictet North America Advisors SA lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,629 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,590 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.5% of Pictet North America Advisors SA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Pictet North America Advisors SA's holdings in Alphabet were worth $25,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Melius Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $233.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were 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 owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction 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 $4,236,785. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.3%

Alphabet stock opened at $246.54 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $215.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $256.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.01.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors 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 yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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