Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,990,351 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 28,064 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.5% of Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $332,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,355,724,000 after buying an additional 7,470,042 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Alphabet by 19.7% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,815,986,000 after acquiring an additional 13,876,534 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,731,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,963,128,000 after purchasing an additional 979,083 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,558,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,414,179,000 after purchasing an additional 684,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,657,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,688,743,000 after purchasing an additional 636,008 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,264,112. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.75, for a total transaction of $123,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 28,524 shares in the company, valued at $4,385,565. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,264,112. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 220,426 shares of company stock worth $35,993,340 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $165.05 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $121.46 and a 1 year high of $193.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $163.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.67. The company has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.31, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

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.