Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Arjuna Capital

Key Points

• Arjuna Capital reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1.6%, now holding 93,431 shares worth approximately $14.4 million.
• Insider sales included transactions by Directors John L. Hennessy and Kavitark Ram Shriram, who sold shares totaling approximately $3 million, representing decreases in their ownership.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a 0.4% dividend yield and payout ratio of 8.95%.

Arjuna Capital lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,431 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,503 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 4.0% of Arjuna Capital's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Arjuna Capital's holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 6.7% in the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,791 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co raised its position in Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 4.1% in the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optivise Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 274,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,674,273 over the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $201.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.51, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.01. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $182.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.22. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GOOGL. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Westpark Capital boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

About Alphabet

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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