Accel Wealth Management Reduces Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Accel Wealth Management reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,649 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,031 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 0.9% of Accel Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Accel Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Diligent Investors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% in the second quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 14,010 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,469,000 after buying an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. McNaughton Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 6.8% in the second quarter. McNaughton Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,467,000 after buying an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% in the second quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 146,754 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $25,862,000 after buying an additional 3,466 shares in the last quarter. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 4.2% in the second quarter. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 11,530 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,032,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% in the second quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 71,644 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,626,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total transaction of $149,664.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,716 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,799.04. This represents a 9.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total transaction of $25,042.39. Following the sale, the director owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,258.92. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 276,338 shares of company stock valued at $59,062,683. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $236.57 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $226.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $256.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.88.

Alphabet 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.