DNB Asset Management AS Has $1.14 Billion Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

DNB Asset Management AS reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,493,371 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 660,074 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 4.7% of DNB Asset Management AS’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,144,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. BMO Capital Markets set a $294.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $288.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $265.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up from $290.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price objective (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, October 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $312.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.64, for a total transaction of $9,640,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,304,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $683,642,180.16. This trade represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total value of $168,036.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,264,750.96. The trade was a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 193,628 shares of company stock worth $50,942,622. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $315.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $328.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $271.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.67.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

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.