Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,807,412 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 265,140 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.5% of Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $465,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,268,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,385 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,175,106,000 after purchasing an additional 523,416 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,274,184,000 after purchasing an additional 418,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 23,263,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,237,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,476 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $189.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.71. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.68 and a 1 year high of $195.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. 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 firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.08.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 198,623 shares of company stock worth $34,413,006. Company 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.