Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 51.4% in the first quarter, leaving them with 3,771 shares valued at $589,000.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction totaling approximately $6.5 million, resulting in a 1.30% decrease in his shareholdings.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a yield of 0.4%, which will be paid on September 15th to shareholders of record.

Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 51.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,771 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,992 shares during the period. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $589,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $32,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $213.53. 24,667,279 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,823,590. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $191.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $215.34.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $47,225,230. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

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.