Russell Investments Group Ltd. Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,840,801 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 49,676 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.3% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,036,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Correct Capital Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.1% during the second quarter. Correct Capital Wealth Management now owns 12,891 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,287,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 239.7% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 63,128 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,198,000 after acquiring an additional 44,546 shares in the last quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 145.3% in the second quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 7,665 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 4,540 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 66.2% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 196,072 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,781,000 after purchasing an additional 78,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers National Bank grew its position in Alphabet by 14.7% in the second quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 40,539 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,191,000 after purchasing an additional 5,206 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOG. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alphabet from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.62.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total value of $694,638.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,629,725.80. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 227,952 shares of company stock worth $58,896,009. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $323.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $265.76 and a 200-day moving average of $217.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $328.67.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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.