Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is GAM Holding AG’s 4th Largest Position

GAM Holding AG cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 17.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 312,362 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 65,944 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 4.1% of GAM Holding AG’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. GAM Holding AG’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $51,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. New Hampshire Trust lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% in the second quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Money Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $359,000. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 58.4% during the first quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 6,374 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $962,000 after acquiring an additional 2,351 shares during the period. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the third quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $771,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the third quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,567,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.51.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,182,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $354,310,204.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total transaction of $130,424.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,894,812.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $354,310,204.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 230,244 shares of company stock worth $37,776,954 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $171.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $126.93 and a 52 week high of $191.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $162.43 and a 200-day moving average of $169.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

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.