Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Northstar Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Northstar Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 3.2%, selling 3,010 shares and now holds 89,811 shares, representing about 4.1% of its total holdings.
• Insider selling includes CEO Sundar Pichai, who sold 32,500 shares valued at over $6.4 million, and director Kavitark Ram Shriram, who sold 15,000 shares for approximately $2.8 million.
• Recent analyst reports have raised price targets for Alphabet shares, with JPMorgan increasing it from $200 to $232, and the stock currently has an average target price of $211.53.

Northstar Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 89,811 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,010 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 4.1% of Northstar Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Northstar Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Loop Capital restated a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $199.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50-day moving average price is $186.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.37. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 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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