Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stake Lessened by Independent Investors Inc.

Independent Investors Inc. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,430 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 530 shares during the period. Independent Investors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total transaction of $5,553,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,620,196 shares in the company, valued at $447,712,890.52. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet 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, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $207.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.5%

GOOG stock opened at $181.31 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $171.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

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.