Argus Investors Counsel Inc. is reducing its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) by 6.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,402 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,809 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 2.8% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Holdings of Argus Investors Counsel Inc. holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,144,172,000 after purchasing an additional 4,064,073 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,441,917,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,220,857 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,316,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,344,778,000 after acquiring an additional 597,756 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s shares.

Analysts on Wall Street are forecasting an increase

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.74, according to MarketBeat .

See the latest stock report on GOOGL

Alphabet trading down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $164.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $174.51 and a two hundred day moving average of $163.44. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. it has a 12-month low of $120.21 and a 12-month high of $191.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Your Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. In the same quarter last year, the business posted EPS of $1.44. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. to record 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabetical announcement of dividends

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a dividend of $0.80 on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider buying and selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total value of $118,572.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at $5,209,888.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available on the SEC’s website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total value of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at $362,126,319.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available on the SEC’s website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,209,888.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 156,565 shares of company stock worth $26,823,893. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s shares.

Alphabet Company Profile

(Free Report)

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Canada and Latin America. It works through Google services, Google Cloud and other betting segments. The Google Services segment offers products and services, including advertising, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search and YouTube.

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