Graham Capital Management L.P. Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 57.1% during the first quarter, selling 51,466 shares and now holding 38,596 shares worth approximately $5.97 million.
• Several large investors, including Mystic Asset Management Inc. and Falcon Wealth Planning, have recently increased their positions in Alphabet, indicating a general bullish sentiment among institutional investors.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a payment date set for September 15th, reflecting a 0.4% yield and an 8.95% dividend payout ratio.

Graham Capital Management L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 57.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,596 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 51,466 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Mystic Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,400,000 after buying an additional 1,791 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% in the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the period. Finally, Falcon Wealth Planning grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 15.7% in the first quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 9,898 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. 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. Wedbush upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $212.91 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $214.65. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $190.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.96.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $47,225,230. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

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.

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