Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 1,539,735 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,822,991 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,539,735 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.2% of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.39% of Alphabet worth $7,395,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,490,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 73,282 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,873,000 after acquiring an additional 13,564 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was 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 directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 274,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,674,273 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Ten investment 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $203.34 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.65, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50 day moving average price is $182.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

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.

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