Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 20.6%, selling over 2.3 million shares during the first quarter, now holding approximately 0.9% of the company.
• CEO Sundar Pichai recently sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock, representing a 1.25% decrease in his ownership, while insider trades have seen a total of 254,719 shares sold valued at about $47.2 million in the last quarter.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share to be paid on September 15th, with an annualized yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 20.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,937,736 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,312,139 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.9% of T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 0.07% of Alphabet worth $1,382,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st 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 last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of GOOGL traded up $2.40 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $208.49. The stock had a trading volume of 29,895,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,370,868. The firm has a market cap of $2.52 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $210.52. The stock's 50 day moving average is $187.44 and its 200 day moving average is $173.28. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Company 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.