Avalon Capital Management Has $24.10 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Avalon Capital Management trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,848 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,639 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 7.0% of Avalon Capital Management's holdings, making the stock its largest position. Avalon Capital Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $195.04 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $178.85 and a 200-day moving average of $172.81. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Roth Capital boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.39.

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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