Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 17,719 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden Corp reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1.6%, selling 17,719 shares, which now constitutes about 1.3% of its investment portfolio.
• Insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet for approximately $4.64 million, representing a 35.65% decrease in his share ownership.
• Despite a recent price target upgrade to $310.00 by Scotiabank, Alphabet's average consensus rating remains at a "Moderate Buy," with a current target price of $244.68.

Boston Trust Walden Corp lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,066,466 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 17,719 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.3% of Boston Trust Walden Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Boston Trust Walden Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $189,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 107.9% in the first quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,659 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $572,000 after buying an additional 1,899 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 19.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 91,681 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $14,323,000 after buying an additional 14,931 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 399.9% during the 1st quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 8,998 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,406,000 after buying an additional 7,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HCR Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 23,110 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,611,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 243,372 shares of company stock valued at $55,110,740. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group set a $255.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $244.68.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $253.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.73. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $257.58.

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, 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 company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

About Alphabet

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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