Soros Fund Management LLC Sells 397,052 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Soros Fund Management LLC lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 517,890 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 397,052 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.2% of Soros Fund Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Soros Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $85,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.08.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1 %

GOOGL opened at $189.82 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.67. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.68 and a 1-year high of $195.61. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. The trade was a 27.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This trade represents a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 198,623 shares of company stock worth $34,413,006 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.