Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Ameriflex Group Inc.

Key Points

• Ameriflex Group Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 20.3% during the first quarter, now holding 11,230 shares worth $1,737,000.
• Other institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Invesco Ltd., have increased their holdings in Alphabet, indicating stronger institutional confidence.
• Alphabet has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a payout ratio of 8.95%, reflecting its ongoing commitment to return value to shareholders.

Ameriflex Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 20.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,230 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,859 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.7% of Ameriflex Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Ameriflex Group Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,737,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mystic Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 6.7% during 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 during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during 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 during the period. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 4.1% during 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 during the period. Finally, Falcon Wealth Planning boosted its position in Alphabet by 15.7% during the first quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 9,898 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold 222,210 shares of company stock valued at $41,742,155 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $221.31.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $1.63 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $232.29. 37,248,351 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,656,480. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.80. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $232.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Alphabet 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.