Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Position Lowered by First Foundation Advisors

First Foundation Advisors lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 508,368 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 33,065 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.2% of First Foundation Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $79,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 18,562.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,237,733,000 after acquiring an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after buying an additional 5,758,244 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 33,504,543 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,380,605,000 after buying an additional 4,247,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $786,942,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,245.74. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at $466,000,536.96. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 249,409 shares of company stock worth $43,523,710 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $193.42 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.38. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.19.

About Alphabet

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.