Essex Financial Services Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,190 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,264 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.2% of Essex Financial Services Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Essex Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,575,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 255,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,695,000. This represents a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the director directly owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.95.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $179.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $168.70 and a 200 day moving average of $173.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business 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 was Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

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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