Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Capital Market Strategies LLC

Capital Market Strategies LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 23.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,456 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,640 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.9% of Capital Market Strategies LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Capital Market Strategies LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after buying an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,582 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 4,383 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $830,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,490,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. DZ Bank cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho lowered 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. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 164,533 shares of company stock valued at $26,772,774 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $2.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $169.73. 52,598,920 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,980,554. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The stock's fifty day moving average is $159.10 and its 200 day moving average is $174.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.08, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

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.