Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 0.5%, owning approximately $1.07 billion worth of shares, which represents about 1.4% of its total investments.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for Alphabet, with Barclays setting a new target of $250, while Citigroup increased theirs to $280, highlighting a positive outlook on the stock.
• Insider transactions revealed that CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares valued at over $8 million, resulting in a 1.34% decrease in his ownership of the company.

US Bancorp DE lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,085,810 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 31,348 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.4% of US Bancorp DE's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. US Bancorp DE owned approximately 0.05% of Alphabet worth $1,072,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 10.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 103,870 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $16,062,000 after buying an additional 9,900 shares during the period. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% in the first quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 71,147 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $11,002,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hoge Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 11.6% in the first quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC now owns 2,343 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Barclays boosted their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Melius Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $252.24.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total value of $8,108,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,397,392 shares in the company, valued at $598,149,304. This trade represents a 1.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 246,150 shares of company stock worth $55,805,379 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $253.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The business's fifty day moving average price is $231.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.85. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $256.96.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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