Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 4.1%, selling 8,926 shares and owning 209,020 shares worth approximately $37 million by the end of the second quarter.
• In contrast, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC significantly increased its stake in Alphabet by 580,897.4%, acquiring over 135 million shares during the same period.
• Alphabet recently reported earnings of $2.31 EPS for the quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, with revenue of $96.43 billion, marking a 13.8% year-over-year growth.

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 209,020 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,926 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.6% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $37,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 580,897.4% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $23,963,208,000 after buying an additional 135,064,454 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $2,622,943,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after buying an additional 9,687,855 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after buying an additional 9,243,959 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $369,713,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $260.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $237.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.32. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $262.51.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial set a $275.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer set a $300.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $249.68.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,236,785. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 246,150 shares of company stock worth $55,805,379. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.

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