Connable Office Inc. Trims Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Connable Office Inc. has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 15.6%, selling 4,019 shares to own 21,821 shares valued at approximately $3.37 million.
• Alphabet's recent earnings report indicated an EPS of $2.31, surpassing estimates by $0.16, with a revenue of $96.43 billion, also exceeding analyst expectations.
• Alphabet has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, set to be paid on September 15, representing an annualized yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Connable Office Inc. trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 15.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,821 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,019 shares during the quarter. Connable Office Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 16,993.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,483,898,000 after acquiring an additional 15,968,487 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Alphabet by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Alphabet by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after acquiring an additional 9,042,271 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,494,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $489,572,657.16. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $201.42 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company's 50-day moving average price is $180.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.80. 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:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

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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