Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 49.3%, selling 5,083,295 shares and leaving it with 5,219,349 shares, worth approximately $919.8 million.
• Alphabet's stock has risen by 1.1% recently, with shares trading at around $254.72 and a market cap of $3.08 trillion.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, paid on September 15th, with an annualized yield of 0.3%.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 49.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,219,349 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,083,295 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.4% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $919,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded down $2.19 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $252.53. 32,240,768 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,953,800. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $256.00. The company has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.89, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $209.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at $4,236,785. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Roth Capital boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $231.31.

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.