Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC

Key Points

• Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet by 13.0% in Q2, selling 5,881 shares and leaving 39,390 shares worth $6.99 million (about 1.2% of the firm's portfolio).
• Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares for roughly $9.21 million and company insiders have sold a total of 225,528 shares (~$61.3 million) in the past 90 days, leaving insiders with about 12.99% ownership.
• Alphabet reported better‑than‑expected results (Q EPS $2.87 vs. $2.29 est.; revenue $102.35B vs. $99.90B, +15.9% YoY) and carries a consensus "Buy" rating with an average price target of $313.04.

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 39,390 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,881 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.2% of Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. RDA Financial Network grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% during the second quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 11,094 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,968,000 after buying an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.4% during the second quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 170,020 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,160,000 after buying an additional 2,304 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,164,341 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $206,542,000 after acquiring an additional 42,028 shares during the last quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Tower View Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% in the second quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,644 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,337,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at $662,526,494.12. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $694,638.90. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $3,629,725.80. This represents a 16.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 225,528 shares of company stock worth $61,296,884 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $309.32 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $328.67. The stock has a market cap of $3.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $284.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $231.69.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Loop Capital upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $313.04.

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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