Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Lowers Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,208 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 306 shares during the quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 in the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $245.35 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $256.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $221.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.96.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. 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 report on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $172.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, June 27th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.76.

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.