Forsta AP Fonden Sells 43,600 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 2.8% in Q1, now owning approximately $238.29 million worth of shares, making it the fund's 7th largest holding.
• Insider transactions revealed that both Director Kavitark Ram Shriram and CEO Sundar Pichai sold shares, reflecting a decrease in their ownership positions in the company.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Alphabet, with recommendations ranging from $205 to $225, indicating strong investor interest and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Forsta AP Fonden cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,540,900 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 43,600 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.8% of Forsta AP Fonden's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Alphabet were worth $238,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in 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 during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Loop Capital restated a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Roth Capital increased their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.6%

GOOGL traded down $1.31 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $202.59. 8,791,928 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,495,262. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $184.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.01. 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 earnings results 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 company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders 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 payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction 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 approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 274,819 shares of company stock worth $49,796,547. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Alphabet

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.