EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 14.8%, holding 48,189 shares worth approximately $7.53 million after selling 8,392 shares in the first quarter.
• Insider sales included Director Kavitark Ram Shriram selling 15,000 shares at $185.76 each, decreasing his holdings by 5.87%, while John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares at $194.70, a 35.65% decrease.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with the payment date set for September 15th, representing an annualized yield of 0.4%.

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 14.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,189 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,392 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in Alphabet by 10.2% during the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Services LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the first 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 during the period. Finally, jvl associates llc increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the first 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 274,819 shares of company stock worth $49,796,547. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $204.91. 21,099,072 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,037,520. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.02. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $185.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.72. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average 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.