Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Cut by Castleark Management LLC

Castleark Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 480,009 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 23,843 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 3.2% of Castleark Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $79,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $842,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $218,000. Maia Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $5,474,000. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 23.7% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 241,932 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,068,000 after purchasing an additional 46,338 shares during the period. Finally, Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 60,629 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,044,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $189.82 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $171.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.63. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.68 and a 1-year high of $195.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, China Renaissance upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.08.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 3.08 % 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 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.