Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Lessened by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 17.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,544 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,846 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.3% of Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,144,172,000 after buying an additional 4,064,073 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Alphabet by 14.4% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,178,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,310,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,344,778,000 after purchasing an additional 597,756 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $222.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $206.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.08.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $161.49 on Thursday. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,655.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at $6,307,206.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 180,867 shares of company stock worth $29,878,106. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.