Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC

Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,011 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,069 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.8% of Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $51,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total transaction of $5,553,275.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,620,196 shares in the company, valued at $447,712,890.52. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of GOOGL traded up $2.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $180.19. 34,243,157 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 31,878,935. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $170.32 and a 200 day moving average of $173.46.

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 (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 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.