Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 1,701,010 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 59.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,137,368 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,701,010 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $190,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Scotiabank began coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $166.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $169.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.40 and a 1-year high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. The trade was a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.