Bridges Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Bridges Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 0.6%, ending the 2nd quarter with 374,707 shares valued at approximately $66.47 million after selling 2,287 shares.
• Multiple institutional investors have also adjusted their holdings, with notable increases from firms like Callahan Advisors LLC and Uptick Partners LLC, enhancing their positions in Alphabet during the same quarter.
• Alphabet recently reported earnings exceeding expectations with $2.31 EPS and $96.43 billion in revenue for the quarter, prompting reaffirmed analyst ratings including six “Strong Buy” designations and a consensus target price of $244.68.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 374,707 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,287 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $66,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Callahan Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.7% in the second quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 272,430 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $48,326,000 after purchasing an additional 7,278 shares during the last quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the second quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 474,914 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $84,245,000 after purchasing an additional 2,549 shares during the last quarter. Uptick Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 38.6% in the second quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 5,729 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares during the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.6% in the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 214,040 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,969,000 after purchasing an additional 3,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairman Group LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 121.3% in the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho raised Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Phillip Securities downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $244.68.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $253.79 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $257.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.03, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $232.18 and a 200 day moving average of $192.97. 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total value of $8,108,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,397,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $598,149,304. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 243,372 shares of company stock valued at $55,110,740. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by 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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