Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 2,107,742 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 33.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,186,590 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,107,742 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.3% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $797,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 24,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,640,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $647,000. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 22,950 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,443 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 80,272 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,287,000 after acquiring an additional 9,089 shares during the period. Finally, Community Trust & Investment Co. grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 402,460 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $76,644,000 after acquiring an additional 5,873 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $196.98 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.55 and a fifty-two week high of $202.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $184.95 and its 200 day moving average is $174.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,516,745.58. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Barclays increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

About Alphabet

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.