Bessemer Securities LLC Decreases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Bessemer Securities LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 42.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,555 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 21,750 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 2.4% of Bessemer Securities LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Bessemer Securities LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,941,000. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.8% during the second quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 4,554 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.4% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 267,759 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $32,391,000 after buying an additional 8,770 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.3% in the second quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 55,838 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,755,000 after buying an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $1,827,000. Institutional investors own 27.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ann Mather sold 220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.14, for a total transaction of $28,630.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,014.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 3,749 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.28, for a total transaction of $510,913.72. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,484,407.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ann Mather sold 220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.14, for a total transaction of $28,630.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $627,014.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 176,576 shares of company stock worth $23,425,367 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Alphabet from $123.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Alphabet from $120.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, Wedbush began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, August 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $130.69.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $0.51 during trading on Monday, reaching $137.45. 3,612,150 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,843,408. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $134.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.57 and a 12-month high of $142.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.10. Alphabet had a net margin of 22.46% and a return on equity of 25.24%. The firm had revenue of $64.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.13 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Company 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, hardware, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.