Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. Sells 2,280 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 8.2%, holding 25,644 shares after selling 2,280 shares during the second quarter, with total holdings valued at $4.5 million.
• Alphabet reported strong earnings with an EPS of $2.31, exceeding estimates, and a revenue of $96.43 billion, reflecting a 13.8% year-over-year increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 0.3% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 8.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,644 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,280 shares during the period. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. JDM Financial Group LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. NCM Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 9,956 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,766,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Faithward Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Objectivity Squared LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,605,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2%

Alphabet stock traded up $2.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $255.24. The stock had a trading volume of 41,503,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,489,492. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $256.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.65. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis 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.