Alberta Investment Management Corp Sells 2,000 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp has decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 0.8%, owning 255,800 shares worth approximately $39.96 million after selling 2,000 shares in the first quarter.
• Insider trading activity includes Kavitark Ram Shriram selling 18,566 shares and CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares, both resulting in significant decreases in their ownership percentages.
• Alphabet recently reported quarterly earnings with EPS of $2.31, which exceeded estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a yield of 0.4%.

Alberta Investment Management Corp decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 255,800 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $39,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5%

NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $2.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $189.95. 21,211,425 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,077,368. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $179.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.69. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,094,245.74. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 249,399 shares of company stock valued at $43,525,794. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet 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.