Townsquare Capital LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Townsquare Capital LLC lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 488,141 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 45,826 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.0% of Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $81,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. M&G PLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $2,240,000. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.3% in the second quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,488,000 after acquiring an additional 4,292 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,624,000 after purchasing an additional 5,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in Alphabet by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 11,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $170.62 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.40 and a 1 year high of $193.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The business’s 50-day moving average is $169.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.86.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 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 analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,307,206.90. This trade represents a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $364,259,266.02. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.