Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by West Family Investments Inc.

West Family Investments Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,080 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,261 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.8% of West Family Investments Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. West Family Investments Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Perritt Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 618 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,249,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,553 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Enzi Wealth grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in the first quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.2% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at $466,000,536.96. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,409 shares of company stock worth $43,523,710 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Alphabet from $177.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.32.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $193.18. The company had a trading volume of 39,738,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,427,228. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $175.77 and a 200-day moving average of $172.93. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

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.