Hollencrest Capital Management Trims Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Hollencrest Capital Management reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1.9%, selling 6,134 shares in the first quarter, leaving it with 317,561 shares valued at approximately $49.1 million.
• Analysts have recently upgraded their price targets for Alphabet, with Barclays raising it from $220 to $235, reflecting a positive consensus among analysts who rate the stock as a "Moderate Buy".
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares for about $5.99 million, resulting in a 1.27% decrease in his ownership stake, while insiders sold a total of 249,409 shares worth over $43.5 million last quarter.

Hollencrest Capital Management reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 317,561 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,134 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.1% of Hollencrest Capital Management's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Hollencrest Capital Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $49,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at $466,000,536.96. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 249,409 shares of company stock worth $43,523,710. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $193.18. 39,738,342 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,427,228. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $172.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BNP Paribas Exane reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $172.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.32.

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.