KBC Group NV Sells 187,764 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

KBC Group NV lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,697,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 187,764 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 0.9% of KBC Group NV’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $281,535,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $364,259,266.02. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $169.23 on Thursday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $168.22 and its 200-day moving average is $170.34. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.90 and a 52-week high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.