Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stake Decreased by Aviance Capital Partners LLC

Aviance Capital Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 153,485 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,366 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 3.5% of Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $27,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,317,606,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after acquiring an additional 14,307,345 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,783,364,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473,901 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 33,403,871 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,034,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,537,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 178.3% in the 1st quarter. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. now owns 4,003,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $619,163,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565,400 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $286.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $292.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $255.49 and a 200 day moving average of $207.29.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Alphabet from $265.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, China Renaissance boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $207.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% 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, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,236,785. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 221,796 shares of company stock valued at $53,983,001 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.