Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd Lowers Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd has significantly reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc., selling 6,654 shares and now owning only 406 shares, representing a 94.2% decrease in position.
• CEO Sundar Pichai recently sold 32,500 shares for approximately $6.38 million, while Directors have also engaged in selling shares, indicating potential profit-taking among insiders.
• Alphabet reported a quarterly earnings beat with an EPS of $2.31, exceeding analyst expectations, along with a substantial revenue increase of 13.8% year-over-year.

Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 94.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 406 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,654 shares during the quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $63,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $96,465,000 after purchasing an additional 20,855 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 412,680 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $78,591,000 after purchasing an additional 26,890 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. now owns 2,040,236 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $388,543,000 after purchasing an additional 43,468 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 274,819 shares of company stock valued at $49,796,547. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $1.09 on Friday, reaching $204.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,099,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,037,520. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.19.

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.