Meitav Investment House Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Meitav Investment House Ltd. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 0.6%, now owning 401,826 shares valued at approximately $71.29 million.
• Recent insider transactions included John Kent Walker selling 17,816 shares, decreasing his ownership by 29.30%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Alphabet, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $241.00.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 401,826 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,534 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of Meitav Investment House Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Meitav Investment House Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $71,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% during the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% during the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total transaction of $149,664.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,425,799.04. This represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Barclays reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $241.00.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $242.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $256.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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