Panagora Asset Management Inc. Sells 90,893 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. sold 90,893 shares of Alphabet Inc., reducing its holdings by 4.4% and valuing its remaining shares at approximately $304.8 million.
• Institutional investors own 40.03% of Alphabet's stock, with significant share increases seen from firms such as Stony Point Capital LLC and Activest Wealth Management.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.4% with a low payout ratio of 8.95%.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,971,026 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 90,893 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.5% of Panagora Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Panagora Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $304,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Mystic Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,791 shares during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co grew its holdings in 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 valued at $4,187,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 4.1% during the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Falcon Wealth Planning grew its stake 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 worth $1,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,340 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Loop Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $219.11.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 222,210 shares of company stock valued at $41,742,155. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 9.1%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $19.31 on Wednesday, reaching $230.66. 102,180,555 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,658,316. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $231.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $192.29 and a 200 day moving average of $174.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company 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 $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%.

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.