Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Ashford Capital Management Inc.

Ashford Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,920 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 460 shares during the period. Ashford Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,590,960. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This trade represents a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 178,957 shares of company stock worth $31,358,687 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.08.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $195.42 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $172.93 and its 200-day moving average is $170.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $201.42. The firm has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Alphabet Company 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.