Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 16.1%, now holding 40,341 shares valued at approximately $6.3 million.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares at an average price of $178.52, resulting in a 1.25% decrease in his ownership of the company.
• Alphabet is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share on September 15, representing a dividend yield of 0.43%.

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 16.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,341 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,756 shares during the quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,329,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,527,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, jvl associates llc lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the first quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were 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 owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,409 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,710 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $194.08 on Monday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $176.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.38. The company has a market capitalization of $2.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.01. 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced 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 $2.12 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Pivotal Research raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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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