Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 3.9%, owning 801,905 shares worth approximately $124 million, making it the firm's 7th largest position.
• Insider sales included CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares valued at nearly $5.8 million, reflecting a 1.25% decrease in his ownership.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a record date of September 8th, representing a 0.4% yield.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 801,905 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 32,201 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.0% of Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $124,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Westpark Capital boosted their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the company'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 value of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $6.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $206.09. The company had a trading volume of 42,770,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,218,810. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $208.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.95, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's fifty day moving average is $186.81 and its 200 day moving average is $173.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 paid 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.