Cowa LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Cowa LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 56.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,139 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,720 shares during the quarter. Cowa LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Camden National Bank grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 33.8% in the second quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 63,441 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,180,000 after purchasing an additional 16,031 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,353 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,988,000 after purchasing an additional 2,718 shares in the last quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 8,897 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the period. New World Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 77.0% during the 2nd quarter. New World Advisors LLC now owns 8,124 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after buying an additional 3,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 104,849 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,478,000 after buying an additional 4,207 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,402,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,699,785.79. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 193,628 shares of company stock worth $50,942,622 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective (up previously from $255.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.06.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $319.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $328.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $273.22 and a 200 day moving average of $222.36.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.