Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Absher Wealth Management LLC

Absher Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 15.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 93,995 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 17,390 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 3.2% of Absher Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Absher Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $27,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.2% during the first quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $730,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Members Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,014,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Altfest L J & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,489,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $342.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $366.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $338.86. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.82 and a 12-month high of $408.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $6.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates by a wide margin, signaling strong underlying business momentum. Alphabet (GOOGL) Beats Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud’s 82% growth suggests Alphabet’s AI spending is translating into faster cloud demand and improving monetization. Google quarterly cloud revenue growth beats expectations
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube ad revenue growth and strength across search and advertising add evidence that core businesses are still healthy. YouTube Ad Revenue Rises 13% In Q2 To Surpass $11 Billion, Helping To Drive Strong Report By Parent Alphabet

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Zacks Research upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial set a $430.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Arete Research boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $414.54.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,345,358.56. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.