Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Physicians Financial Services Inc.

Key Points

• Physicians Financial Services Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 4.2%, selling 3,548 shares, and now holds 81,033 shares, representing approximately 4.1% of its investment portfolio.
• Insider trading activity included Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares at $196.23, reducing his stake by 1.29%. Overall, insiders have sold 273,219 shares worth about $49.5 million in the last quarter.
• Analysts have recently increased their price targets for Alphabet, with updates from firms like JPMorgan and BMO Capital, indicating a consensus price target of $211.53 and a "Moderate Buy" rating.

Physicians Financial Services Inc. trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,033 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,548 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 4.1% of Physicians Financial Services Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Physicians Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 78,467 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,134,000 after buying an additional 3,101 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.0% in the first quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 7,020 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,086,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN increased its position in Alphabet by 2.3% during the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 219,776 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $33,986,000 after acquiring an additional 4,961 shares during the period. Financial Management Network Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Financial Management Network Inc. now owns 18,084 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,654,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wincap Financial LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Wincap Financial LLC now owns 13,803 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,135,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Needham & Company LLC lifted 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. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Westpark Capital raised their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

GOOGL traded up $0.43 on Thursday, hitting $196.52. 26,014,319 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,916,484. The stock's fifty day moving average is $179.76 and its 200-day moving average is $173.12. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a market cap of $2.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.