Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.

Key Points

• Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. significantly cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 88.4%, selling 688,232 shares and retaining 90,446 shares valued at approximately $14.13 million.
• Alphabet posted earnings of $2.31 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations by $0.19, with revenue reaching $96.43 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.43%, reflecting a low dividend payout ratio of 8.95%.

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 88.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 90,446 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 688,232 shares during the period. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOG. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were 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 directly owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, 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 have sold a total of 249,298 shares of company stock worth $43,505,967 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $4.13 on Thursday, reaching $193.31. 17,346,458 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,275,443. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $178.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.69. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

About Alphabet

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.