Jones Financial Companies Lllp Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Jones Financial Companies Lllp has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 78.6%, ending the first quarter with a holding worth $43.84 million after selling over 1 million shares.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock for approximately $6.5 million, reflecting a 1.3% decrease in his ownership.
• Alphabet has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21, with the payout scheduled for September 15th, indicating a dividend yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Jones Financial Companies Lllp reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 78.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 283,694 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,042,716 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $43,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $0.96 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $234.04. The stock had a trading volume of 32,427,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,085,072. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $238.13. The company has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Alphabet from $191.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, June 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $221.44.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $492,281,408.64. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

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.