Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 22.3%, selling over 6 million shares, and now holds approximately 21.3 million shares, constituting about 0.5% of its holdings.
• Alphabet reported earnings of $2.31 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates, with quarterly revenues reaching $96.43 billion, a 13.8% increase from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share to be paid on September 15th, yielding approximately 0.4% annually.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 22.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 21,293,970 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,128,140 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.5% of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Alphabet worth $3,326,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Alphabet by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758,244 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,455,571,000 after buying an additional 294,556 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 34,103,417 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,494,655,000 after buying an additional 769,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 33,504,543 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,380,605,000 after purchasing an additional 4,247,379 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,245.74. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,494,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $489,572,657.16. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Lake Street Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $0.36 on Thursday, hitting $197.28. The company had a trading volume of 14,292,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,208,792. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The stock's 50-day moving average is $181.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.68. The firm has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

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.