Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Decreased by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,179,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 342,281 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 10.8% of Virtu Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $195,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,910,838,000 after purchasing an additional 743,369 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,154,651,000 after buying an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,268,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,385 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 238,403 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,175,106,000 after purchasing an additional 523,416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,590,960. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total transaction of $2,780,226.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. The trade was a 27.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 178,957 shares of company stock worth $31,358,687. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $188.40 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.66 and a 52-week high of $201.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $173.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.09. The company has a market cap of $2.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 24th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.69.

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.