Wexford Capital LP Sells 1,028 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Wexford Capital LP lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 28.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,028 shares during the quarter. Wexford Capital LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $189.82 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.68 and a 1 year high of $195.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.63.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 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 return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict 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 paid 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 0.42%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 198,623 shares of company stock worth $34,413,006. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.08.

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.