Renaissance Investment Group LLC Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Renaissance Investment Group LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 6.9%, holding 92,600 shares valued at approximately $14.32 million, making it the 6th largest position in their portfolio.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares for about $5.80 million, representing a 1.25% decrease in his ownership, while insiders have collectively sold 273,219 shares valued at $49.47 million over the past 90 days.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a dividend payout ratio of 8.95%, and has received multiple price target upgrades from analysts, with the average target now at $211.53.

Renaissance Investment Group LLC lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,600 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,861 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 3.5% of Renaissance Investment Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Renaissance Investment Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $0.43 on Thursday, hitting $196.52. The stock had a trading volume of 26,014,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,916,484. The business's 50 day moving average is $179.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.12. The stock has a market cap of $2.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. 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:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 have sold a total of 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

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.