BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,742,074 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 82,606 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.7% of BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $288,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.6% in the second quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the second quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cutler Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $115,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,590,960. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. This trade represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 197,123 shares of company stock valued at $34,121,676. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 5.5 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $195.40 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $170.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $129.68 and a one year high of $195.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.