Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Decreased by Skylands Capital LLC

Skylands Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 162,675 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 18,150 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 4.2% of Skylands Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $29,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,144,172,000 after purchasing an additional 4,064,073 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,441,917,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after buying an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after buying an additional 238,403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,220,857 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,316,902,000 after buying an additional 1,472,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $156.45 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total transaction of $600,175.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,655.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total value of $266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $663,107.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,065 shares of company stock worth $22,841,690 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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.