Janney Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Janney Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,013 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,286 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded up $3.91 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $170.68. 35,420,806 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,833,475. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The company has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $165.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 228,070 shares of company stock valued at $37,745,632 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $200.17.

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.