Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Sandy Spring Bank

Key Points

• Sandy Spring Bank reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 1.2%, owning 204,986 shares valued at approximately $32 million.
• Alphabet's CEO, Sundar Pichai, sold 32,500 shares for about $5.8 million, marking a 1.25% decrease in his position in the company.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, with an ex-dividend date on September 8th and an annualized yield of 0.4%.

Sandy Spring Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 204,986 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,528 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.3% of Sandy Spring Bank's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Sandy Spring Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $32,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 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 $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $202.11 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $181.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.35.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

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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