Port Capital LLC Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Port Capital LLC reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,575 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Port Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd 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 holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the second 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 buying an additional 238,403 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 1.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 523,416 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 418,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Alphabet by 9.1% during the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 1,949,476 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,280,514.53. This represents a 27.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 198,623 shares of company stock valued at $34,413,006. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $189.82 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $171.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.68 and a 12 month high of $195.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 business posted $1.55 EPS. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Seven research 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.08.

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.