Garner Asset Management Corp Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Garner Asset Management Corp lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,694 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.6% of Garner Asset Management Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% in the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 58.7% in the second quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 121.3% in the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Alphabet from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total value of $168,036.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,264,750.96. This represents a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.80, for a total value of $32,681.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,253,567.20. This trade represents a 0.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 227,850 shares of company stock valued at $58,874,814 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0%

GOOG opened at $320.28 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $267.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.73. The company has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $328.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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