DnB Asset Management AS Has $141.53 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• DnB Asset Management AS has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by selling 13,154 shares, bringing their total to 905,936 shares valued at approximately $141.5 million.
• Alphabet recently reported earnings of $2.31 per share, surpassing expectations and achieving a revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid to investors of record, representing an annual yield of 0.4%.

DnB Asset Management AS lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 905,936 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 13,154 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in Alphabet were worth $141,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $96,465,000 after acquiring an additional 20,855 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 30,229 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,757,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Collar Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $2,993,000. Finally, Eagle Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 224,471 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $42,748,000 after buying an additional 9,588 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $2.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $235.17. The company had a trading volume of 26,091,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,868,892. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $196.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.82. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $236.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,137.64. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.