Primecap Management Co. CA Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Primecap Management Co. CA trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 22.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,476,357 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,419,288 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.2% of Primecap Management Co. CA’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,503,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 4,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 14,362 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253 shares in the last quarter. PFG Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 33.2% in the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 61,458 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,602,000 after acquiring an additional 15,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oakwell Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $410,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho set a $325.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on Alphabet from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Alphabet from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.81.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $284.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.10, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $294.52. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $259.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.86.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total transaction of $168,036.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,264,750.96. This trade represents a 11.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,337,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,526,494.12. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 189,896 shares of company stock worth $47,653,637 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.