Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management Co. LP has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 0.4%, now holding approximately 3.46 million shares valued at $535 million, making it the firm's 6th largest position.
• Alphabet's Director, Kavitark Ram Shriram, and another director, John L. Hennessy, sold a total of 15,400 shares recently, indicating insider selling activity amidst a broader decline in their individual holdings.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Alphabet shares, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53, reflecting positive sentiment after the company's recent earnings exceeding expectations.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,459,916 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 15,496 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.6% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $535,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction 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 approximately $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities boosted their target price 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. Roth Capital raised their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Ten 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $201.42 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company's 50-day moving average price is $180.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $172.80.

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. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid 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 (DPR) is 8.95%.

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.

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