Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 5.0%, selling 104,831 shares to hold 1,978,023 shares worth approximately $309 million.
• Alphabet's quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $2.31, exceeding analysts' estimates and a significant revenue of $96.43 billion, marking a year-over-year increase of 13.8%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.4%, with a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,978,023 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 104,831 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec's holdings in Alphabet were worth $309,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $180,000. NCM Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.2% in the first quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Full Sail Capital LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 4.2% in the first quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 2,698 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.2% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 53,125 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,642 shares during the period. Finally, Anson Funds Management LP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $1,562,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,287,137.64. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at $492,281,408.64. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.0%

GOOG stock opened at $206.72 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $209.23. The company's 50-day moving average price is $187.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Alphabet Company 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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