Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Heritage Financial Services LLC

Key Points

• Heritage Financial Services LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 18.4%, holding 4,697 shares valued at $833,000 following the sale of 1,057 shares in the second quarter.
• Several analysts have upgraded Alphabet's stock rating, with price targets revised upwards, including a boost to $300.00 from Pivotal Research, reflecting growing confidence in the company's performance.
• Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.3%, marking its continued commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Heritage Financial Services LLC cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 18.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,697 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,057 shares during the quarter. Heritage Financial Services LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $833,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $26,000. Robbins Farley raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% in the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.33.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total value of $25,042.39. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,258.92. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $246.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $221.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $256.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. 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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