Virtu Financial LLC Has $195.65 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Virtu Financial LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 22.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,179,655 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 342,281 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 10.8% of Virtu Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $195,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total value of $3,759,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,129,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at $355,743,153.42. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This trade represents a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 178,957 shares of company stock valued at $31,358,687 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Robert W. Baird reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp upped their price objective 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, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.69.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $188.51. 32,167,189 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,582,375. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $173.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.09. The company has a market capitalization of $2.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.66 and a 52-week high of $201.42. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 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.