Global Wealth Strategies & Associates Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 233 shares during the quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.44.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $240.80 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $242.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $201.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.51.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $558,219,089.16. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 over the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.