Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Holdings Lessened by Levin Capital Strategies L.P.

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 131,141 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,425 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.1% of Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Wedbush upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $172.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.53.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 274,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,674,273 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $201.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $181.53 and a 200-day moving average of $172.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

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.