Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Senator Investment Group LP

Senator Investment Group LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 35.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 275,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 150,000 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.5% of Senator Investment Group LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Senator Investment Group LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $50,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.29.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $165.29 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $164.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $121.46 and a 1 year high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $115,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,590,960. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,765,346. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 200,105 shares of company stock worth $33,479,581 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Alphabet

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.