Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Key Points

• Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich holds a $1.23 billion stake in Alphabet Inc., accounting for about 4.1% of its investment portfolio, after reducing its position by 4.4% during the first quarter.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.44%, with payment scheduled for September 15th.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Alphabet, with Wedbush increasing its target to $225.00 and Barclays to $235.00, reflecting a positive sentiment about the stock's performance.

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,268,166 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 337,717 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 4.1% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.06% of Alphabet worth $1,230,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,399 shares of company stock valued at $43,525,794 over the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.6%

GOOGL traded down $3.09 on Friday, reaching $188.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,717,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,048,895. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $177.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.12. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued 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 is 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.