Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ

Key Points

• Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ sold 58,318 shares of Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), reducing its stake by 2.9%, with the company now holding 1,938,426 shares valued at approximately $299.76 million.
• Alphabet's stock recently received mixed ratings from analysts, with four analysts giving a Strong Buy rating and a consensus price target of $211.53.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.4%, with the pay date set for September 15th.

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,938,426 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 58,318 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.8% of Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's holdings in Alphabet were worth $299,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds 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 fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,490,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its position in 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 worth $5,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 980 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $212.91. The stock had a trading volume of 39,702,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,138,272. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $214.65. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current 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 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 (DPR) is 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm'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 $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $47,225,230 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Westpark Capital upped their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

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.