Watchman Group Inc. Has $3.99 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Watchman Group Inc. has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 5.1%, now owning 25,517 shares valued at approximately $3.99 million.
• Alphabet reported earnings per share of $2.31 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations and marking a 13.8% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Watchman Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,517 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,372 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.1% of Watchman Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Watchman Group Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in Alphabet by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $96,465,000 after purchasing an additional 20,855 shares in the last quarter. MSH Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $361,000. Coleford Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $400,000. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $89,109,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $204.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,099,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,037,520. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $185.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.87.

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 firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 have sold a total of 274,819 shares of company stock worth $49,796,547 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

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.