Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA Sells 4,284 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 52.9%, selling 4,284 shares and leaving them with 3,811 shares valued at approximately $676,000 at the end of the second quarter.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock for over $7.4 million, representing a 1.32% decrease in his ownership, while Director Kavitark Ram Shriram also sold shares amounting to a 7.09% decrease in his holdings.
• Despite recent insider selling, analysts have maintained a generally positive outlook on Alphabet, with four analysts rating it as a Strong Buy and a consensus target price of $230.35.

Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 52.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,811 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,284 shares during the period. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA's holdings in Alphabet were worth $676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's 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 $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Lake Street Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. KeyCorp set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Cowen restated 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, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $230.35.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2%

Alphabet stock opened at $252.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.01. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $256.70. The company's 50-day moving average price is $212.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.73.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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