Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 83.9%, selling 13,532 shares and leaving it with 2,595 shares valued at approximately $405,000.
• Alphabet reported $2.31 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing the estimate of $2.12, alongside a revenue of $96.43 billion, which exceeded expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.4%, which will be paid to stockholders of record on September 8th.

Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 83.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,595 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 13,532 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.2% of Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 ninety days, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG traded up $5.78 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $239.94. 22,727,434 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,278,212. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The business's 50 day moving average is $199.04 and its 200-day moving average is $177.55. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $240.59.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

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.