AXS Investments LLC Sells 10,153 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

AXS Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 25.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,426 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 10,153 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.3% of AXS Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. AXS Investments LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $2.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $205.33. 23,003,480 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,597,219. The stock's 50-day moving average is $183.65 and its 200-day moving average is $173.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 274,819 shares of company stock worth $49,796,547 in the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Roth Capital increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Ten equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

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.