Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 198,163 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 12,873 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.3% of Braun Stacey Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest 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 (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,575,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 255,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,695,000. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. UBS Group lowered their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.38.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded down $2.56 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $177.99. 8,978,238 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,915,400. The stock's fifty day moving average is $169.97 and its 200-day moving average is $175.40. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

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.