BTC Capital Management Inc. Sells 4,225 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

BTC Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 161,099 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,225 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.7% of BTC Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. BTC Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $29,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,441,917,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $68,980,354,000 after purchasing an additional 6,374,756 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 39,754.9% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 6,025,667 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $841,725,000 after purchasing an additional 6,010,548 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 143.7% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,072,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,288,201,000 after buying an additional 4,170,229 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,209,888.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total transaction of $3,652,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $354,310,204.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at $5,209,888.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 156,565 shares of company stock valued at $26,823,893. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $165.62 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $174.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.74.

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.