Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Stock Holdings Trimmed by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its Alphabet Inc. holdings by 0.2%, now owning approximately 3.6 million shares valued at $564.9 million.
• Alphabet recently reported $2.31 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' estimates, and saw a 13.8% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a yield of 0.4%, scheduled for payment on September 15.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,616,029 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,499 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company's holdings in Alphabet were worth $564,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in Alphabet by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,527,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. jvl associates llc raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Members Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 84.7% in the 1st quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 4,999 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $781,000 after buying an additional 2,292 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $212.37 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $212.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $190.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous 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, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 254,608 shares of company stock worth $47,204,035. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.