Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Whelan Financial

Whelan Financial lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 418 shares during the quarter. Whelan Financial’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its position 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $236.57 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $256.00. The company has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 953 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.20, for a total transaction of $229,863.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,171,312.80. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total transaction of $149,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,799.04. The trade was a 9.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475 over the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. HSBC started coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $285.00 price objective for the company. Roth Capital increased their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Phillip Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.