Bray Capital Advisors Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Bray Capital Advisors reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,872 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 507 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 3.6% of Bray Capital Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Bray Capital Advisors’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $15,441,917,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after buying an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $68,980,354,000 after buying an additional 6,374,756 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 39,754.9% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 6,025,667 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $841,725,000 after acquiring an additional 6,010,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 143.7% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,072,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,288,201,000 after acquiring an additional 4,170,229 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $154.69 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $164.36. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $191.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total value of $3,991,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,213,011 shares in the company, valued at $392,588,151.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,213,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $392,588,151.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 179,367 shares of company stock worth $30,016,931. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.76.

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.