Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Sells 8,802 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 2.6%, selling 8,802 shares during the second quarter, leaving it with 330,335 shares valued at approximately $58.6 million.
• In a recent insider transaction, John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of Alphabet at an average price of $247.42, marking a significant reduction of 29.3% in his holdings.
• Alphabet's stock has received multiple analyst upgrades, with Pivotal Research raising its price target to $300.00 and six analysts giving the stock a Strong Buy rating.

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 330,335 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,802 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.0% of Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB's holdings in Alphabet were worth $58,598,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ACT Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% during the second quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 1,625 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 5,126 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Kooman & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 4,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,742 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brueske Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,194 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the company's 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 owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,258.92. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 243,372 shares of company stock worth $55,110,740. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Barclays reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $244.68.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $253.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.03, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $232.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.73. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $257.58.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. 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.

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