Sheets Smith Wealth Management Sells 4,082 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 22.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,313 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,082 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $164.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.90 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The business has a 50-day moving average of $167.64 and a 200 day moving average of $170.35.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total value of $3,570,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,160,251.80. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

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.