Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Spreng Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Spreng Capital Management Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 42.2%, selling 1,725 shares and leaving it with 2,367 shares worth approximately $366,000.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, set to be paid on September 15, with an annualized payout of $0.84 and a yield of 0.4%.
• The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for its last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates of $2.15 and achieving a record revenue of $96.43 billion.

Spreng Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 42.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,367 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,725 shares during the period. Spreng Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mystic Asset Management Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,791 shares during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 1st 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. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC increased 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 buying an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Falcon Wealth Planning increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 15.7% in the first quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 9,898 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,531,000 after buying an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $199.75 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm 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. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Roth Capital increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

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.

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