Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Lowered by Silvant Capital Management LLC

Silvant Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 409,905 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,240 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 3.0% of Silvant Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Silvant Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $67,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 4,064,073 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 238,403 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,344,778,000 after purchasing an additional 597,756 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,274,184,000 after purchasing an additional 418,204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at $362,126,319.10. This represents a 1.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total transaction of $1,862,805.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 319,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,765,168.06. This trade represents a 3.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.90.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $3.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $172.49. 32,481,654 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,145,184. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $165.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.90 and a 12-month high of $191.75.

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 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 business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

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.