Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,976,047 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,427,313 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 0.8% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,188,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $73,927,821,000 after purchasing an additional 5,182,111 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 580,897.4% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $23,963,208,000 after buying an additional 135,064,454 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,760,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,022,926,000 after buying an additional 441,177 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,971,861,000 after buying an additional 9,243,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the second quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 35,357,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,272,146,000 after acquiring an additional 2,117,990 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total transaction of $8,129,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,369,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $592,760,192.85. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was 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 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 195,452 shares of company stock worth $49,255,209 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Pivotal Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.81.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $289.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $306.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $261.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.97.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.28%.

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.