Palo Alto Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Palo Alto Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 2.6% in the first quarter, now owning approximately $41.9 million worth of shares, making it the firm's second largest holding.
• Alphabet recently reported earnings of $2.31 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and reported revenues of $96.43 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 0.4%, with a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Palo Alto Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 262,899 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,960 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 16.7% of Palo Alto Wealth Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Palo Alto Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $41,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $212.91. 39,702,089 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 29,138,272. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $214.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.96. 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 $2.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. 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 analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $47,225,230. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Barclays increased their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

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.