Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Decreases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 760,373 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,308 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.5% of Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $118,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Concentrum Wealth Management lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 17,328 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,300,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Kidder Stephen W lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Kidder Stephen W now owns 3,608 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the first quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,605,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tranquility Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the first quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,263,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6%

Alphabet stock opened at $196.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $178.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.53. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.19.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 249,298 shares of company stock valued at $43,505,967. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.