Penbrook Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Penbrook Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,720 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.9% of Penbrook Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Penbrook Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.94.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $173.38 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $160.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 261,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.