Parker Investment Management LLC Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Parker Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 221,761 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 74,340 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 5.8% of Parker Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Parker Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $36,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.6% during the second quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,316,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank grew its position in Alphabet by 3.8% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cutler Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.7% during the third quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $189.82 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.68 and a twelve month high of $195.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $171.63 and its 200-day moving average is $170.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.08.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were 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. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 198,623 shares of company stock valued at $34,413,006 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet 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.