Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Position Decreased by Gobi Capital LLC

Key Points

• Gobi Capital LLC has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 4.9%, now holding approximately 1,273,590 shares, which represents 11.3% of its investment portfolio, making it the company's 3rd largest position.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and JPMorgan Chase, have increased their stakes in Alphabet during the first quarter, reflecting a positive outlook on the stock.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a payout ratio of 8.95%, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Gobi Capital LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,273,590 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 66,279 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 11.3% of Gobi Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Gobi Capital LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $198,973,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 5.0% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 17,428 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,723,000 after buying an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in Alphabet by 29.1% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 8,020 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,253,000 after buying an additional 1,808 shares in the last quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. grew its position in Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 36,758 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,743,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 6.4% during the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 236,483 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $36,946,000 after buying an additional 14,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd grew its position in Alphabet by 13.8% during the first quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 52,515 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,196,000 after buying an additional 6,385 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $47,225,230. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of GOOG stock traded down $1.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $211.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,114,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,611,908. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $192.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.60. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $215.34. 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 company has a market cap of $2.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Alphabet Company 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.