Southeast Asset Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Southeast Asset Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 12.3%, owning 8,857 shares valued at approximately $1.37 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several analysts have increased their target prices for Alphabet stock, with Citigroup setting a new target of $225.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, set to be paid on September 15, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.4%.

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,857 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,242 shares during the quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Four investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm'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 sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $207.14 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $188.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.51. The stock has a market cap of $2.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $210.52. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. 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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