Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by American Trust

American Trust lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,590 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. OMC Financial Services LTD acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $4,227,000. Hamilton Wealth LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 4.4% during the first quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC now owns 127,828 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,293,000 after buying an additional 5,423 shares during the period. Objective Capital Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.2% during the first quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC now owns 10,567 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Alphabet by 10.5% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 11,596,975 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,753,286,000 after buying an additional 1,099,571 shares during the period. Finally, Tactive Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 16.1% during the first quarter. Tactive Advisors LLC now owns 5,193 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total value of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at $5,728,640.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,112. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 99,808 shares of company stock valued at $17,732,125 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $159.40. 22,180,869 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,140,625. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $191.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $178.11 and its 200 day moving average is $161.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.40, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $176.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.74.

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, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.