Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Sells 1,145 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 4.1%, selling 1,145 shares and now holding 26,543 shares valued at approximately $4.68 million.
• Alphabet's quarterly earnings report revealed $2.31 earnings per share, exceeding the consensus estimate of $2.15, with revenues hitting $96.43 billion.
• Insiders sold a combined total of 243,285 shares worth nearly $51 million over the last ninety days, reflecting notable activity among company executives.

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,543 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,145 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.7% of Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Mystic Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,791 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,637,000 after acquiring an additional 13,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alaethes Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $244.90 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $256.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's 50 day moving average is $219.14 and its 200 day moving average is $184.66.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total value of $25,042.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,258.92. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,285 shares of company stock valued at $50,994,787 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Citigroup lifted their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.10.

About Alphabet

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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