Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 0.8%, now owning 654,430 shares worth approximately $102.2 million.
• Alphabet recently reported Q2 earnings of $2.31 per share, surpassing estimates, with revenues of $96.43 billion, reflecting a 13.8% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share with an ex-dividend date of September 8th, yielding 0.4% based on a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 654,430 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,315 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.5% of Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $102,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after buying an additional 14,246,573 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 2.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $64,299,725,000 after buying an additional 9,687,855 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Alphabet by 9.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,971,861,000 after buying an additional 9,243,959 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Alphabet by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Alphabet by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,376,706,000 after buying an additional 5,758,244 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded down $0.46 on Monday, reaching $201.63. 16,675,980 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,116,525. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $181.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.35. The company has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 274,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,674,273 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.