Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Fermata Advisors LLC

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 lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 30.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,489 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,946 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.54.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded up $2.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $254.72. 55,452,697 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,860,836. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $256.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $207.87 and a 200-day moving average of $179.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

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.