Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI

Key Points

• LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1.9%, now holding 140,673 shares valued at approximately $24.79 million.
• Analysts have recently increased their price targets for Alphabet, with UBS Group raising it from $192 to $202 and other firms setting targets as high as $220, indicating a generally positive outlook for the stock.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a payout ratio of 8.95%, demonstrating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 140,673 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,712 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.6% of LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI's holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $172.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $221.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380 in the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $240.80 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $242.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $201.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.48. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

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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