Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Sterling Investment Counsel LLC

Key Points

• Sterling Investment Counsel LLC significantly reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 86.7% during the second quarter, leaving it with only 1,200 shares valued at about $213,000.
• Alphabet reported an earnings per share of $2.31 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates, and achieved a revenue of $96.43 billion, reflecting a 13.8% year-over-year growth.
• The company has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.3%, indicating strong cash flow management.

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 86.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,200 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,798 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Robbins Farley grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $246.45 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $221.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.31. 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 one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $256.70. The company has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, 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 quarter, insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.33.

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.

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