2,381 Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Trace Wealth Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Trace Wealth Advisors cut its Alphabet stake by 72.7% in the third quarter, selling 2,381 shares and retaining 893 shares valued at about $307,000.
• Alphabet reported quarterly EPS of $2.12, below the $3.02 analyst consensus, while revenue of $127.58 billion also narrowly missed expectations.
• Analysts maintain a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $412.51; Alphabet also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share.

Trace Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 893 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,381 shares during the quarter. Trace Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Titleist Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the third quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 34,613 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096 shares during the last quarter. Elefante Mark B lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the second quarter. Elefante Mark B now owns 43,733 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,897 shares during the period. Nwam LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 19.6% during the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 49,128 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $14,127,000 after purchasing an additional 8,055 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 287.4% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,886 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,063,000 after buying an additional 2,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 51.4% in the second quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 4,759 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,701,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.8%

GOOGL opened at $298.70 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $329.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $338.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $270.70 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 2.79.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.02 by ($0.90). The business had revenue of $127.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $127.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 50.03% and a return on equity of 43.33%. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 7th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.59%.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Investors following GOOGL have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s reported departure has put a spotlight on alternatives to Nvidia. Alphabet’s expanding TPU business could help it compete for AI workloads and gain market share, while its Google Cloud infrastructure also uses AMD processors. Why Alphabet Stock Was Moving Higher Today
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage points to Google Cloud’s growth and Alphabet’s AI investments as potential long-term drivers. Berkshire Hathaway has also built a sizable Alphabet position, buying more than 60 million shares since Greg Abel became CEO, a notable vote of confidence. Warren Buffett's Successor, Greg Abel, Has Nearly $110 Billion Invested in These 2 Tech Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavy AI data-center spending could weigh on cash flow, even as the underlying cloud and advertising businesses remain attractive. This could limit near-term enthusiasm if returns on the investment take time to materialize. Alphabet: Punished For Its Cash Flow, Not Its Business

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $460.00 to $400.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $445.00 to $387.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $447.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $440.00 target price (up from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $412.51.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total transaction of $28,257.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,494,424.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 247 shares of company stock worth $79,238 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc. is a technology holding company whose largest business is Google. Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google became part of Alphabet when the company reorganized its businesses under the holding-company structure in 2015. Google's products and services include Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Cloud. The company also generates revenue from digital advertising and offers devices, subscriptions and artificial intelligence products and services.

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