Pacer Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 29.0% during the 1st quarter, bringing its total shares to 416,935, valued at approximately $64.5 million by the end of the period.
• A number of equities analysts have revised their ratings on Alphabet, with Citizens Jmp upgrading the stock to "outperform" and setting a target price of $220.00.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share to be paid on September 15th, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.4%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 29.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 416,935 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 170,512 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $64,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Guggenheim raised 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. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.39.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $189.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.01. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $178.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.12. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 249,399 shares of company stock valued at $43,525,794. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Company 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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