Varenne Capital Partners lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 41.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 117,293 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 81,801 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 6.5% of Varenne Capital Partners' holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Varenne Capital Partners' holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity
In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 242,319 shares of company stock valued at $44,243,272. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Alphabet
Alphabet Trading Down 0.9%
Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $201.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50-day moving average price is $185.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.20. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.
Alphabet Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.
Alphabet Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOGL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report).
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