Voleon Capital Management LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Voleon Capital Management LP reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. by 1.2%, now owning 324,592 shares worth approximately $50.2 million, making it their 4th largest holding.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Alphabet, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $222.33.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings revealed an EPS of $2.31, exceeding analysts' expectations, and the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share.

Voleon Capital Management LP trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 324,592 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,839 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 3.9% of Voleon Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Voleon Capital Management LP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $50,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.5% in the first quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 163,720 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $25,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,489 shares in the last quarter. Challenger Wealth Management grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% in the first quarter. Challenger Wealth Management now owns 11,589 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 97.9% in the first quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 9,695 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,499,000 after purchasing an additional 4,796 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 7.5% in the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 115,477 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,857,000 after purchasing an additional 8,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sender Co & Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $6,718,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the business'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 transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Wall Street Zen downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $221.44.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock traded down $0.96 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $234.04. The company had a trading volume of 32,427,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,085,072. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $196.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $238.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 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.