Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Peak Financial Management Inc.

Key Points

• Peak Financial Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 22.5%, owning 3,940 shares worth approximately $699,000 after selling 1,145 shares in the second quarter.
• Despite some sales by institutional investors, several firms, such as Raymond James Financial, have maintained positive outlooks on Alphabet, with target price estimates rising and reaffirmed "buy" ratings.
• Alphabet recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.31, surpassing estimates, with a revenue increase of 13.8% year-over-year, reflecting strong financial performance.

Peak Financial Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,940 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,145 shares during the quarter. Peak Financial Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $699,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Austin Asset Management Co Inc raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Austin Asset Management Co Inc now owns 2,767 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in Alphabet by 1.0% in the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 229,600 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,729,000 after purchasing an additional 2,258 shares during the period. Optas LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.3% in the second quarter. Optas LLC now owns 101,046 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,925,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its position in Alphabet by 2.9% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 7,456 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,323,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 11,043 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Phillip Securities lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $241.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $237.49 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $256.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $226.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.81.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

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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