Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Islay Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Islay Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 16.6%, selling 2,008 shares, and now holds approximately 1.1% of its portfolio in the company.
• Insider trading activity includes CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares for nearly $6.5 million, representing a 1.3% decrease in his holdings.
• Equities analysts have mixed reviews for Alphabet, with several firms adjusting their target prices and ratings, leading to a current consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Islay Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 16.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,092 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,008 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.1% of Islay Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Islay Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after buying an additional 14,307,345 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042,271 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,749,806,000 after purchasing an additional 593,345 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,153,481,000 after buying an additional 727,335 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 104,859 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $47,225,230. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $1.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $212.91. The stock had a trading volume of 39,702,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,893,466. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $2.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $190.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.05. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $214.65.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

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.