First Eagle Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

First Eagle Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,280,631 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 60,082 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $578,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gimbal Financial raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gimbal Financial now owns 2,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Missouri Trust & Investment Co raised its position in 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 during the period. Silver Coast Investments LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1.3% in the second quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 4,317 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $761,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. AM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% in the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC grew its position 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $292.81 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $260.23 and a 200 day moving average of $211.57. 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 market cap of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $303.81.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid 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 yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total value of $694,638.90. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,629,725.80. This trade represents a 16.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 192,674 shares of company stock worth $48,454,423 in the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Westpark Capital lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Alphabet from $260.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Alphabet from $236.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $265.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $247.00 to $281.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.33.

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.