Objective Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Objective Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 63.1%, selling 5,466 shares and leaving them with 3,199 shares valued at $495,000.
• Alphabet shared that it will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share on September 15th, representing an annualized yield of 0.4%.
• Analysts have increased their price targets for Alphabet, with estimates now ranging from $195 to $225, reflecting positive sentiment towards the stock.

Objective Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 63.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,199 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,466 shares during the period. Objective Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sather Financial Group Inc grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the first quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 21,738 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,362,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,996 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,948,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 29,288 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,529,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.2% during the first quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 61,419 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fischer Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the first quarter. Fischer Financial Services Inc. now owns 64,540 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,980,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,094,245.74. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business'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 sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,399 shares of company stock valued at $43,525,794 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Westpark Capital lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities increased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.39.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded up $5.91 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $195.04. 31,493,654 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 37,132,445. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $178.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $172.82. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.01.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.