Brookstone Capital Management Sells 15,697 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Brookstone Capital Management cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 317,991 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 15,697 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.7% of Brookstone Capital Management's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $49,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $49,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total transaction of $5,553,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,620,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $447,712,890.52. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $203.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.61.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $2.57 during trading on Friday, reaching $180.19. 34,243,157 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 37,750,108. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $169.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

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.