Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Tran Capital Management L.P.

Key Points

• Tran Capital Management L.P. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1.7%, selling 1,728 shares, with their holdings now valued at approximately $17.7 million, making it the firm's 19th largest position.
• Alphabet recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.31 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations of $2.15, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share.
• Institutional investors control about 40.03% of Alphabet's shares, indicating significant hedge fund interest, along with various adjustments in their holdings over recent months.

Tran Capital Management L.P. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 100,335 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,728 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 2.1% of Tran Capital Management L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Tran Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,317,606,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 16,993.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,483,898,000 after acquiring an additional 15,968,487 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307,345 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 307.6% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,302,644 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,593,201,000 after purchasing an additional 7,774,811 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 4,473,901 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $251.66 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $212.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.45. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $256.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were given 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%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,236,785. This represents 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 worth $52,405,304. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Westpark Capital upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $231.31.

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.

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