Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Sells 2,824 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Securities LLC has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 16.4% in Q1, now holding 14,352 shares valued at approximately $2.24 million.
• Alphabet's recent earnings report showed a 13.8% revenue increase year-over-year, with an EPS of $2.31 beating estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be distributed on September 15th, yielding 0.4% annually.

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 16.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,352 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,824 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 111.8% during 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 bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock traded up $19.11 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $231.10. 70,779,743 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,654,292. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $231.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Lake Street Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 222,210 shares of company stock worth $41,742,155. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.