Guardian Partners Inc. Has $7.72 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Guardian Partners Inc. sold 11,380 shares of Alphabet Inc., reducing its stake by 18.6%, leaving it with 49,679 shares valued at approximately $7.7 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Alphabet, with Guardian Wealth Management Inc. notably raising its holding by 242.9% in the first quarter.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, to be paid on September 15th, reflecting a lower payout ratio of 8.95% and an annual yield of 0.4%.

Guardian Partners Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 18.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,679 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 11,380 shares during the period. Guardian Partners Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Phillip Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $191.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $221.44.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $5.59 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $239.63. 37,672,216 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 34,417,184. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $196.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.73. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $240.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.