Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Founders Capital Management

Founders Capital Management lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,585 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Founders Capital Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,598,000 after buying an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.5% in the third quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,516 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,037,196,000 after purchasing an additional 611,233 shares during the period. Finally, StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,567,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.15.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total value of $3,741,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. The trade was a 1.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 154,387 shares of company stock worth $27,748,931. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock traded down $2.32 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $189.72. The stock had a trading volume of 10,062,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,319,838. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $172.95. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.66 and a fifty-two week high of $201.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

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.