Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Position Reduced by Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 2.2%, now owning 52,757 shares valued at approximately $8.24 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Alphabet; notably, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake by 2.4% to over $64 billion.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.4%.

Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,757 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,213 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 4.0% of Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Alaethes Wealth LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 33,993 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,311,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 150.4% in the 1st quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC now owns 64,835 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,129,000 after acquiring an additional 38,946 shares during the last quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 36,758 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,743,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in Alphabet by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 399,396 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $62,398,000 after acquiring an additional 113,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 15,891 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $1.22 on Thursday, reaching $240.78. The stock had a trading volume of 21,272,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,996,289. The company has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $242.57. 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $200.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOG. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Phillip Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued 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.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.56.

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.