Stephens Inc. AR Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 316,644 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 20,700 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 0.8% of Stephens Inc. AR’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $52,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,815,986,000 after acquiring an additional 13,876,534 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,378,708,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Alphabet by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,355,724,000 after acquiring an additional 7,470,042 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Alphabet by 65.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,294,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,052,349,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500,621 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Alphabet by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,416,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,923,000 after acquiring an additional 2,190,795 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $172.65 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $163.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 2.08. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $128.11 and a 12 month high of $193.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total value of $3,652,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $354,310,204.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total value of $3,652,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,182,385 shares in the company, valued at $354,310,204.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 230,244 shares of company stock valued at $37,776,954. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet 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.