Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Martingale Asset Management L P

Martingale Asset Management L P lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 340,450 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 31,871 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.3% of Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $56,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $185.17 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $169.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.21. The company has a market cap of $2.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 1.24 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.68 and a 1-year high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total transaction of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,280,514.53. The trade was a 27.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 197,923 shares of company stock worth $34,244,676. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 target price (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Finally, China Renaissance upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.03.

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.