HM Payson & Co. Sells 22,187 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

HM Payson & Co. reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 504,223 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 22,187 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.4% of HM Payson & Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. HM Payson & Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $83,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 43,005.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $31,086,250,000 after purchasing an additional 18,700,111 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 587.4% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,772,991,000 after acquiring an additional 9,135,056 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Alphabet by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,724,251,000 after acquiring an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Alphabet by 116.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,437,957,000 after acquiring an additional 4,662,809 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in Alphabet by 18,810.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,434,260 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $807,700,000 after acquiring an additional 4,410,811 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $2.74 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $178.88. 23,170,800 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,102,947. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $127.90 and a one year high of $191.75. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $164.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,765,346. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,835 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 241,752 shares of company stock valued at $40,156,829. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

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.