Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 6%, owning 29,843 shares valued at approximately $5.29 million following the sale of 1,905 shares during the second quarter.
• Alphabet's stock rose by 4.3%, trading at $251.76, and the company reported a net income margin of 31.12% with revenue increasing by 13.8% year-over-year.
• Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, yielding 0.3%, and announced a dividend payout ratio of 8.95%.

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,843 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,905 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $96,465,000 after buying an additional 20,855 shares during the last quarter. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $16,157,000. St. Clair Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $3,354,000. Finally, Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC now owns 23,235 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,425,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 4.3%

GOOG stock opened at $251.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm's fifty day moving average is $204.16 and its 200 day moving average is $179.48. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $252.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - 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 $2.12 by $0.19. The company 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 firm's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.56.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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