Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC Sells 12,033 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 382,363 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 12,033 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.8% of Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $59,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 37,244 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,759,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the period. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 6.9% during the first quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,030 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,479,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% in the first quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 156,765 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $24,242,000 after buying an additional 2,858 shares during the period. Fedenia Advisers LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 30.3% in the first quarter. Fedenia Advisers LLC now owns 7,289 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,127,000 after buying an additional 1,697 shares during the period. Finally, Detalus Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.0% in the first quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 12,541 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,939,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Alphabet from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, JMP Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $200.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $177.62. 29,191,793 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 31,845,344. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $169.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.69. The company has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% 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 9,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,575,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 255,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,695,000. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928 over the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.