Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by American Trust

Key Points

• American Trust reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) by 26.1% in the first quarter, selling 7,391 shares and leaving it with 20,941 shares valued at approximately $3.24 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Invesco Ltd., increased their holdings in Alphabet during the same period, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 40.03% of the company's stock.
• Alphabet's CEO, Sundar Pichai, recently sold 32,500 shares valued at over $7.4 million, while insiders have collectively sold 254,710 shares in the past three months.

American Trust decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 26.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,941 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,391 shares during the quarter. American Trust's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after buying an additional 14,307,345 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,749,806,000 after buying an additional 593,345 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,153,481,000 after buying an additional 727,335 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,556,577 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,962,389,000 after buying an additional 104,859 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 33,403,871 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,034,992,000 after buying an additional 3,537,173 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $234.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.92, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $238.13. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $196.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.73.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. JMP Securities raised their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $221.44.

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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