Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 202,056 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,362,690 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 202,056 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.0% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.17% of Alphabet worth $3,387,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ERn Financial LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 3,924 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.3% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,515 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.5% in the second quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 134,399 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,652,000 after purchasing an additional 7,054 shares during the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $220,000. Finally, Atwater Malick LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on GOOG. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. This trade represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 197,123 shares of company stock valued at $34,121,676 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $193.63 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.06 and a 52 week high of $196.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $172.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $172.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $2.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.