Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by McCarthy Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• McCarthy Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 47.5%, selling 1,249 shares and retaining a position of 1,380 shares worth approximately $213,000.
• Several institutional investors increased their stakes in Alphabet during the past quarter, with Wellington Management Group LLP notably raising its stake by 15.9%, acquiring over 9 million additional shares.
• Alphabet's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.31, exceeding expectations, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting a 0.4% dividend yield.

McCarthy Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 47.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,380 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,249 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.2% of McCarthy Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. McCarthy Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,490,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,509,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Alphabet by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after buying an additional 9,042,271 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $47,225,230. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $1.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $212.91. 39,702,089 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,893,466. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's 50-day moving average is $190.44 and its 200-day moving average is $174.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $214.65.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.