Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Sells 12,873 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 198,163 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 12,873 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.3% of Braun Stacey Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $30,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.38.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG traded down $2.99 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $177.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,952,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,209,247. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50-day moving average is $169.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.40.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Alphabet 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.