Insight Holdings Group LLC Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Insight Holdings Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 53.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 131,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 151,900 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.9% of Insight Holdings Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Insight Holdings Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,268,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,385 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after purchasing an additional 238,403 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,175,106,000 after buying an additional 523,416 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,274,184,000 after buying an additional 418,204 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 23,263,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,237,426,000 after buying an additional 1,949,476 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.08.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 198,623 shares of company stock valued at $34,413,006 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $189.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.71. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.68 and a twelve month high of $195.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Alphabet Company 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.