Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Position Cut by Barrett & Company Inc.

Barrett & Company Inc. trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,014 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 63 shares during the quarter. Barrett & Company Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $236.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $256.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $201.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Roth Capital lifted their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.88.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total transaction of $7,910,825.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,402,119 shares in the company, valued at $584,699,785.79. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.