Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Metis Global Partners LLC's 10th Largest Position

Key Points

• Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 11.4%, now owning 325,883 shares valued at approximately $50.4 million, making it the fund's 10th largest position.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares for about $5.8 million, reducing his ownership by 1.25%, while other insiders sold a total of 249,399 shares valued at approximately $43.5 million.
• Alphabet has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.4%, with the dividend payout ratio at 8.95%.

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 11.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 325,883 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 33,275 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.4% of Metis Global Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $50,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet 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 $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 249,399 shares of company stock valued at $43,525,794 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $189.13 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.82. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $172.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.39.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.