Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by MCF Advisors LLC

MCF Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 12.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,553 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,293 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $68,980,354,000 after purchasing an additional 6,374,756 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,441,917,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,220,857 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,316,902,000 after buying an additional 1,472,043 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,910,194 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,876,605,000 after buying an additional 874,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,408,933 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,247,868,000 after acquiring an additional 686,514 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5 %

Alphabet stock opened at $182.99 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $172.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.44. The firm has a market cap of $2.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.35 and a twelve month high of $186.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total value of $266,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,107.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 142,344 shares of company stock worth $23,920,676. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Alphabet from $176.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.66.

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.