Griffin Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,316 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 390 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. M. Kraus & Co boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% in the first quarter. M. Kraus & Co now owns 6,267 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Aire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 11,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the first quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,274 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Defined Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at $5,623,355.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $125,126.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares in the company, valued at $1,655.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 123,788 shares of company stock worth $21,143,403 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $185.24 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $173.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.35 and a 1-year high of $186.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wedbush lifted their target price on Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $141.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.66.

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.