Alliancebernstein L.P. Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 9.7%, now owning approximately 38 million shares valued at about $5.95 billion.
• Alphabet's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations with an EPS of $2.31, surpassing analyst estimates of $2.12, and a revenue increase of 13.8% year-over-year.
• A recent quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share was announced, representing a yield of 0.4%, with a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 9.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,086,948 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,072,376 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 2.2% of Alliancebernstein L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.31% of Alphabet worth $5,950,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of several research reports. 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. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Lake Street Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.56.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of GOOG traded up $2.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $235.17. 26,091,032 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,868,892. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $236.13. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $196.65 and a 200-day moving average of $176.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

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.