Whale Rock Capital Management LLC Sells 572,118 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Whale Rock Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,398,303 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 572,118 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 5.6% of Whale Rock Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $397,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.4% in the second quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 45,695 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,323,000 after purchasing an additional 3,523 shares in the last quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.7% during the second quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,575 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the second quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 544,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $99,105,000 after buying an additional 2,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group raised its position in Alphabet by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 57,673 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,505,000 after buying an additional 4,554 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Seven equities 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. The trade was a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 198,623 shares of company stock worth $34,413,006 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $189.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.68 and a 52-week high of $195.61. The firm has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s fifty day moving average is $171.63 and its 200-day moving average is $170.67.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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.