Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Parnassus Investments LLC

Key Points

• Parnassus Investments LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 7.6%, now holding approximately 9.66 million shares valued at about $1.49 billion, making it the firm's 5th largest holding.
• Total institutional ownership of Alphabet stock stands at 40.03%, with several other hedge funds, including Vanguard and Invesco, also increasing their positions during the first quarter.
• Alphabet has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid on September 15, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.4%.

Parnassus Investments LLC decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,660,930 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 798,276 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 3.6% of Parnassus Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Parnassus Investments LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Alphabet worth $1,493,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $644,000. Siren L.L.C. increased its position in Alphabet by 624.3% in the 1st quarter. Siren L.L.C. now owns 50,703 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,841,000 after acquiring an additional 43,703 shares during the period. TD Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 922 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,345,000. Finally, Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management increased its position in Alphabet by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 47,450 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,338,000 after acquiring an additional 2,619 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $212.91. 39,702,089 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 29,138,272. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $214.65. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $190.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Guggenheim raised their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was 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 $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $47,225,230. 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.