Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Holdings Cut by Smartleaf Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Smartleaf Asset Management LLC has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 2.0%, owning 63,353 shares valued at approximately $9.77 million following the sale of 1,265 shares during the first quarter.
• Alphabet recently reported an EPS of $2.31, exceeding estimates, and had a revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, outperforming market expectations.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with the dividend payout ratio currently at 8.95%.

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,353 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,265 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 0.9% of Smartleaf Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st 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 Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $207.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.51. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $210.52.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors 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 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 have sold a total of 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Bank of America raised their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

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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