Petrus Trust Company LTA Sells 24,270 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 13.3%, now holding 158,776 shares valued at approximately $24.8 million.
• Wall Street analysts show a mixed outlook for Alphabet, with a majority rating it as a "Moderate Buy," and varied price targets ranging from $210 to $300.
• Insiders, including CEO Sundar Pichai, have sold substantial amounts of stock recently, indicating a potential shift in confidence as insiders sold over $49 million in shares last quarter.

Petrus Trust Company LTA decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 13.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 158,776 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 24,270 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.3% of Petrus Trust Company LTA's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Petrus Trust Company LTA's holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1%

Alphabet stock traded up $2.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $235.17. The stock had a trading volume of 26,091,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,956,284. 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 $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $236.13. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $196.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.56.

Alphabet Company 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.