Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 2.8%, resulting in ownership of 692,459 shares, which is valued at $122 million.
• Numerous analysts have upgraded their ratings on Alphabet, with targets reaching as high as $225, indicating a positive outlook for the company's stock performance.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, scheduled for payment on September 15th, representing an annualized yield of 0.3%.

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 692,459 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 19,901 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 7.1% of Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $122,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $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 first quarter worth $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $221.44.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $240.80 on Monday. 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 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $242.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $201.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

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.

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