BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Sells 114,279 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 11.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 876,629 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 114,279 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $146,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,578,793,000 after buying an additional 1,291,274 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,657,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,688,743,000 after acquiring an additional 636,008 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,327,458 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,103,000 after acquiring an additional 282,121 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after acquiring an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 9,903,537 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,655,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218,671 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $177.33 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.40 and a 1 year high of $193.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given 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 0.45%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 184,295 shares of company stock valued at $30,698,791. Company 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.