Compass Ion Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Compass Ion Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 8.5%, selling 1,728 shares and maintaining a total of 18,673 shares valued at $3,312,000.
• Insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares at an average price of $194.70, representing a significant decrease of 35.65% in his position.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, achieving an annualized yield of 0.3%, with a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Compass Ion Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 8.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,673 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,728 shares during the period. Compass Ion Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. LongView Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the second quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 5,126 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. NCM Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Legacy Private Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 9,956 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,766,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the first quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $391,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, SK Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.4% during the second quarter. SK Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,236,785. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total value of $8,108,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,397,392 shares in the company, valued at $598,149,304. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $2.36 on Monday, hitting $252.88. The stock had a trading volume of 20,038,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,284,148. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $211.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $256.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $230.35.

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.