Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Greenwood Capital Associates LLC

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 124,566 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,407 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.7% of Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Phillip Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. HSBC began coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $285.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $270.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.88.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $236.57 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $226.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $256.00.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

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.