Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,577,285 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,642,064 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.2% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $869,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $31,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 37.9% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in Alphabet by 77.6% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 348 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, S&T Bank PA raised its stake in Alphabet by 40.2% during the second quarter. S&T Bank PA now owns 345 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $302.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $287.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $232.84. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $328.83.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The firm 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 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.28%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total transaction of $9,213,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,337,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,526,494.12. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $694,638.90. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,629,725.80. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 226,128 shares of company stock worth $63,183,331 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Moffett Nathanson boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $224.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $315.18.

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.