Townsquare Capital LLC Reduces Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Townsquare Capital LLC lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 488,141 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 45,826 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.0% of Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $81,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,944 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Shira Ridge Wealth Management lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Shira Ridge Wealth Management now owns 15,490 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,841,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. DA Davidson raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total value of $3,570,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,160,251.80. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

GOOG opened at $170.62 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $169.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.86. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.40 and a 1-year high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 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.