Groupama Asset Managment Sells 33,991 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Groupama Asset Management reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 4.0%, now owning 823,220 shares valued at approximately $127 million, which represents around 1.0% of its portfolio.
• Recent insider activity shows significant sales, with John Kent Walker selling 23,820 shares for about $4.6 million, indicating a 35.65% decrease in his holdings.
• Alphabet's stock has seen a recent surge, closing at $206.09, with analysts forecasting a consensus target price of $211.53 and an expected 8.9 earnings per share for the fiscal year.

Groupama Asset Managment reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 823,220 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 33,991 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.0% of Groupama Asset Managment's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Alphabet were worth $127,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after acquiring an additional 14,307,345 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after purchasing an additional 10,135,430 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,503,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042,271 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,749,806,000 after purchasing an additional 593,345 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,153,481,000 after buying an additional 727,335 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $1.74 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $206.75. 12,821,816 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,182,297. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $187.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.28. The company has a market cap of $2.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $210.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% 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, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172. 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.