Bristlecone Advisors LLC Sells 6,340 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Bristlecone Advisors LLC reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 9.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,909 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,340 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the first quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,605,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Tranquility Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the first quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,263,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the first quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 10,648 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,664,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 293 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $197.28 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.02. 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 50-day simple moving average is $181.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.68.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

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.

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