Palisade Capital Management LP Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Palisade Capital Management LP lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,816 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,978 shares during the period. Palisade Capital Management LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $180.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $169.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 261,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total transaction of $5,553,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,620,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $447,712,890.52. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOG. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group cut their price target on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.38.

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.