Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by PineStone Asset Management Inc.

PineStone Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 34.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,653,283 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,418,914 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 7.4% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. PineStone Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $771,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $75,144,172,000 after purchasing an additional 4,064,073 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Alphabet by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after buying an additional 7,275,757 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in 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 valued at $9,011,412,000 after buying an additional 238,403 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,344,778,000 after buying an additional 597,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,274,184,000 after buying an additional 418,204 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 $50,765,346. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 241,752 shares of company stock valued at $40,156,829 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.90.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $2.74 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $178.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,170,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,102,947. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.90 and a 12 month high of $191.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $164.37 and a 200 day moving average of $169.98. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders 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 0.45%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.