Carderock Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Carderock Capital Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 14.0%, owning 50,229 shares valued at approximately $8.85 million.
• Insiders at Alphabet have sold a total of 258,088 shares in recent months, amounting to over $52 million in transactions.
• Several analysts have recently upgraded their price targets for Alphabet, with Needham & Company LLC setting a new target of $260.00.

Carderock Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,229 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,156 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 2.3% of Carderock Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Carderock Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mystic Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,400,000 after buying an additional 1,791 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Cypress Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% in the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.9% in the first quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,637,000 after acquiring an additional 13,371 shares during the period. Finally, Alaethes Wealth LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $2.19 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $252.53. The company had a trading volume of 32,240,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,834,965. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $209.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.41. 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 cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $256.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Wedbush boosted their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $231.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at $4,236,785. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total value of $8,108,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,397,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $598,149,304. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% 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.