Benjamin Edwards Inc. Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 2.1%, selling 2,597 shares and bringing its total ownership to 122,336 shares worth approximately $19.1 million.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares at an average price of $196.23, resulting in a total transaction value of $6.38 million, decreasing his ownership in the company.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings revealed an EPS of $2.31, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $96.43 billion, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 13.8%.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 122,336 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,597 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in Alphabet by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $96,465,000 after buying an additional 20,855 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Family Office Research LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Eley Financial Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc now owns 24,591 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,683,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total transaction of $6,377,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,494,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $489,572,657.16. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG traded up $4.83 on Friday, reaching $202.11. The stock had a trading volume of 24,354,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,707,132. The business's 50-day moving average price is $181.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.52. The company has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.