Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Empire Financial Management Company LLC

Empire Financial Management Company LLC reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,707 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.0% of Empire Financial Management Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Empire Financial Management Company LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the third quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, MKT Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the third quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $195.42 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $201.42. The company has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. On average, equities 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 was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total transaction of $3,759,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,129,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $355,743,153.42. This trade represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 178,957 shares of company stock worth $31,358,687. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.08.

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.