Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 563,793 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,076 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.2% of Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $88,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% in the fourth 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 holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $1.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $186.21. The stock had a trading volume of 10,499,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,504,474. The firm's fifty day moving average is $173.39 and its 200 day moving average is $174.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 215,843 shares of company stock worth $37,288,490 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.40.

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.