Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Transform Wealth LLC

Transform Wealth LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 39,051 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,325 shares during the period. Transform Wealth LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total value of $5,483,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,587,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $436,570,192.16. This represents a 1.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of GOOG opened at $180.01 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.88.

Alphabet 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.