Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC Sells 712 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,182 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 712 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $179.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.97. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% 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 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928 in the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.95.

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.