Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stake Lowered by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 36,685,062 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 331,249 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.6% of Fisher Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,465,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gimbal Financial lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.9% in the second quarter. Gimbal Financial now owns 2,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% in the second quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 16,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,981,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Silver Coast Investments LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% in the second quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 4,317 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $761,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the second quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 6,477 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.6% during the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 10,428 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,838,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.00, for a total value of $302,418.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 11,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,721,580. This represents a 7.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total transaction of $10,383,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,272,119 shares in the company, valued at $725,942,020.50. The trade was a 1.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 226,128 shares of company stock worth $61,326,372 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 target price (up from $250.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $236.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.65.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $317.08 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $279.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $226.96. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.27, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $328.83.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.28%.

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.