Platinum Investment Management Ltd. Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Platinum Investment Management Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 16.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 617,233 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 123,846 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 7.2% of Platinum Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Platinum Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $108,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. HSBC began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $285.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $242.98.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $244.62 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $256.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $224.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.53. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet 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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