BSW Wealth Partners Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• BSW Wealth Partners has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 5.6%, now owning 18,454 shares valued at approximately $3.25 million.
• Multiple analysts have recently upgraded their price targets for Alphabet, with KeyCorp raising its target significantly from $230 to $265 and maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.3%, with a payout ratio currently at 8.95%.

BSW Wealth Partners cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,454 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,086 shares during the quarter. BSW Wealth Partners' holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $242.98.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $244.62 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $256.00. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $224.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.53.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. 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 analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Company 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.

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