Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt

Key Points

• Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 12.8%, owning 8,049,200 shares after selling 1,183,000 shares in the first quarter.
• Alphabet Inc. also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with an ex-dividend date of September 8th.
• The stock has an average target price of $211.32, with most analysts rating it as a "Moderate Buy."

Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 12.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,049,200 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,183,000 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 7.0% of Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt owned 0.07% of Alphabet worth $1,243,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. WMG Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% during the first quarter. WMG Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,087 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. United Bank raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 45,084 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,972,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% during the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 7,374,451 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,140,385,000 after purchasing an additional 108,160 shares during the period. Wesleyan Assurance Society raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 18.5% during the first quarter. Wesleyan Assurance Society now owns 514,130 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $79,454,000 after purchasing an additional 80,185 shares during the period. Finally, Maytree Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $588,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 249,399 shares of company stock valued at $43,525,794. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded down $3.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $188.81. The stock had a trading volume of 17,717,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,048,895. The company has a 50-day moving average of $177.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.12. 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 company has a market cap of $2.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. BNP Paribas Exane reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $172.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Guggenheim upped their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.39.

About Alphabet

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.