Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC

Key Points

• Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 3.9%, now owning 979,232 shares worth approximately $151.4 million.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares at an average price of $199.92, amounting to $6.5 million, reducing his ownership by 1.30%.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, with the payout ratio currently at 8.95%, reflecting its ongoing commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 979,232 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 39,796 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.3% of Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $151,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Mystic Asset Management Inc. increased 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 worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co increased 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 worth $4,187,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Falcon Wealth Planning increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 9,898 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.46 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $208.55. 8,374,652 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,186,645. The business's 50 day moving average is $186.81 and its 200-day moving average is $173.12. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $209.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.