Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stake Cut by Kestra Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services LLC reduced its Alphabet Inc. holdings by 5.9%, now owning 536,904 shares valued at approximately $83 million, making it the 27th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Several analysts have raised their target prices for Alphabet, with projections ranging from $190 to $232, and a consensus average target of $211.53, reflecting positive sentiment about the company's growth potential.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, set to be paid on September 15th, indicating a steady return for investors with a 0.4% dividend yield.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 536,904 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 33,925 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.4% of Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $83,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307,345 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after buying an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Alphabet by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,503,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042,271 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,749,806,000 after purchasing an additional 593,345 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,153,481,000 after buying an additional 727,335 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock traded up $4.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $211.64. 32,311,202 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,175,680. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock's 50-day moving average is $188.75 and its 200 day moving average is $173.75. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $212.22. The stock has a market cap of $2.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.54, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.