Darden Wealth Group Inc Sells 1,440 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Darden Wealth Group Inc lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,702 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,440 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 4.7% of Darden Wealth Group Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Darden Wealth Group Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0 %

GOOGL opened at $172.64 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.68 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.01. 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’s 50-day moving average is $169.30 and its 200 day moving average is $170.31.

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. 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 the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.75, for a total value of $123,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,524 shares in the company, valued at $4,385,565. This represents a 2.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. This trade represents a 27.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 163,624 shares of company stock worth $27,803,730. 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.