Western Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,665 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Western Wealth Management LLC cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 90,174 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,665 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.2% of Western Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,144,172,000 after acquiring an additional 4,064,073 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $15,441,917,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in 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 worth $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,220,857 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,316,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,344,778,000 after purchasing an additional 597,756 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1 %

GOOGL opened at $165.62 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $174.73 and its 200-day moving average is $163.18. The company has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $191.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Alphabet from $176.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $196.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Six 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total transaction of $3,652,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $354,310,204.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total value of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 156,565 shares of company stock worth $26,823,893. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.