Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Chelsea Counsel Co.

Key Points

• Chelsea Counsel Co. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 4.1%, selling 1,950 shares and now owning 45,964 shares valued at $7.1 million.
• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.9%, holding over 509 million shares worth approximately $78.8 billion.
• Alphabet recently reported earnings per share of $2.31, beating analysts' expectations, along with a declared quarterly dividend of $0.21 scheduled for September 15th.

Chelsea Counsel Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,964 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,950 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 3.9% of Chelsea Counsel Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Chelsea Counsel Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. 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 purchasing an additional 14,307,345 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,783,364,000 after purchasing an additional 4,473,901 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% during the 1st 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 lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,153,481,000 after buying an additional 727,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,556,577 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,962,389,000 after buying an additional 104,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $238.91 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $198.22 and its 200 day moving average is $176.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $240.47. 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 (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 $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Phillip Securities downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $221.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

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.

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