Verity Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Verity Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 556 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $167.83 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $167.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.38. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.90 and a 12-month high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total transaction of $1,862,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 319,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,765,168.06. The trade was a 3.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.90.

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.