Fermata Advisors LLC Has $791,000 Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Fermata Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 30.2%, now holding 4,489 shares valued at $791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Alphabet's growth, with several firms raising their price targets, resulting in an average target price of $222.85 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insider trading activity at Alphabet includes significant share sales, with CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares for approximately $8.1 million, representing a 1.34% decrease in his ownership.

Fermata Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 30.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,489 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,946 shares during the quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after acquiring an additional 14,307,345 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 11.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,783,364,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473,901 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,749,806,000 after acquiring an additional 593,345 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,153,481,000 after purchasing an additional 727,335 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,556,577 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,962,389,000 after purchasing an additional 104,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at $4,236,785. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.69 on Friday, hitting $254.72. 55,452,697 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,316,584. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $256.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $209.36 and a 200 day moving average of $180.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Bank of America upped 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. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.54.

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.