Howard Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Howard Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 15.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 141,838 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 25,655 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 36.4% during the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $278.83 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $251.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.56. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $291.59. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.50, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. 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 company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 222,396 shares of company stock worth $54,105,275. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $233.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $306.00 target price (up previously from $255.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citic Securities boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $304.10.

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.