Granite Investment Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Granite Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,031 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 203 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. Finally, Pivotal Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.14.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at $5,728,640.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at $5,728,640.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total transaction of $3,759,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,129,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $355,743,153.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 217,592 shares of company stock worth $35,922,911 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $165.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $191.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

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.