SCS Capital Management LLC Sells 247,837 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• SCS Capital Management LLC has significantly reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by selling 247,837 shares, resulting in an 84.1% decrease in their position.
• Institutional investors, such as Vanguard and UBS, have raised their stakes in Alphabet during the same period, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, with the ex-dividend date on September 8th, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.4%.

SCS Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 84.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 46,979 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 247,837 shares during the quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after buying an additional 14,307,345 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,783,364,000 after buying an additional 4,473,901 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,749,806,000 after buying an additional 593,345 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,153,481,000 after buying an additional 727,335 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,556,577 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,962,389,000 after buying an additional 104,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $234.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $238.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $221.44.

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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