Planning Directions Inc. Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Planning Directions Inc. cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,746 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 344 shares during the quarter. Planning Directions Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gimbal Financial lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the second quarter. Gimbal Financial now owns 2,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the second quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 16,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,981,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 6,477 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 10,428 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,838,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Council LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Council LLC now owns 5,800 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $343.00 price objective (up from $280.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. HSBC upped their price target on Alphabet from $295.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $224.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 222,396 shares of company stock worth $54,105,275. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.1%

GOOGL stock opened at $278.83 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $251.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.50, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $291.59.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.28%.

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.