Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Key Points

• Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 12.0%, owning 101,625 shares valued at approximately $17.9 million after selling 13,877 shares in Q2.
• Multiple brokerages have increased their price targets for Alphabet, with JPMorgan raising their target from $200 to $232 and Wells Fargo adjusting theirs from $184 to $187, reflecting strong investor sentiment.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, yielding 0.3%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 8th.

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 12.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 101,625 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 13,877 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, 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 transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 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 value of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $2.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $254.72. The stock had a trading volume of 55,452,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,316,584. The business's fifty day moving average is $209.36 and its 200-day moving average is $180.31. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 1.70 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.54.

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.