Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 23.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,313 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,172 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.6% of Sentry Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Sentry Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,044 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,341,000 after buying an additional 2,390 shares in the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 31,967 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,088,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $204,262,000. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 246.2% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,698 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,085,000 after buying an additional 4,052 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total transaction of $5,066,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,652,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $413,555,306.40. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 163,270 shares of company stock valued at $26,553,563. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Alphabet Stock Performance
GOOG traded up $1.68 on Wednesday, reaching $169.39. The stock had a trading volume of 18,476,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,268,888. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business's 50-day moving average price is $161.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.18. The company has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.88.
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About Alphabet
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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.
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