Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Ally Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Ally Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 16.8% during Q1, now holding 164,000 shares valued at approximately $25.4 million.
• Alphabet's CEO, Sundar Pichai, sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock for around $6.5 million, representing a 1.30% decrease in his overall holdings.
• Recent earnings report showed a profit of $2.31 per share, exceeding estimates, and a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share has been announced for September 15th.

Ally Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 16.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 164,000 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 33,000 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.8% of Ally Financial Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Ally Financial Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $25,361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st 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 position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

GOOGL opened at $207.48 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $210.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50 day moving average price is $188.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 business'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 transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

About Alphabet

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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