Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Key Points

• Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1.7%, holding 283,525 shares valued at approximately $50.3 million, making it the company's 10th largest position.
• Alphabet received a mix of ratings from analysts, with four giving it a Strong Buy rating and others assigning mixed ratings, leading to a current consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a price target of $230.35.
• Insider sales were notable, with CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares valued at about $7.47 million, indicating a 1.32% decrease in his ownership of the stock.

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 283,525 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,928 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.6% of Hartford Investment Management Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Hartford Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $50,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. Barclays reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $230.35.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $247.18 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $256.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.01. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $216.61 and a 200-day moving average of $184.39.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's 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.

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