Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Buffington Mohr McNeal

Buffington Mohr McNeal lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 10.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,099 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,661 shares during the quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $49,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $203.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.61.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $180.27. 19,182,837 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,515,637. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.57. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.