Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by AE Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• AE Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 6.1%, holding approximately 797,167 shares worth about $123 million.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares in July, representing a 1.25% decrease in his ownership.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Alphabet, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.39.

AE Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 797,167 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 51,975 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.0% of AE Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. AE Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $123,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,490,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 73,282 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,873,000 after acquiring an additional 13,564 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded down $2.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $189.13. 34,777,882 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,669,572. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $177.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $2.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Westpark Capital increased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794. 11.64% of the stock is owned by 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.