Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Northstar Asset Management Inc.

Northstar Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 88,148 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,663 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 4.3% of Northstar Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Northstar Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after acquiring an additional 14,307,345 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,783,364,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473,901 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,749,806,000 after acquiring an additional 593,345 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,153,481,000 after acquiring an additional 727,335 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,556,577 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,962,389,000 after acquiring an additional 104,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $277.54 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $246.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.13. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $291.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total transaction of $7,910,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,402,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,699,785.79. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 190,896 shares of company stock valued at $45,092,175 in the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Stifel Nicolaus set a $333.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up from $290.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. China Renaissance increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $207.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $303.09.

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.