Cortland Associates Inc. MO Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Cortland Associates Inc. MO reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 0.6%, bringing their holdings to 185,511 shares, which are valued at around $32.9 million.
• Alphabet's latest earnings report revealed an EPS of $2.31, surpassing expectations, and a revenue of $96.43 billion, showing a year-over-year increase of 13.8%.
• Several analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for Alphabet, with Scotiabank raising it from $200 to $240 and Oppenheimer setting a target of $270.

Cortland Associates Inc. MO lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 185,511 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,172 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 3.8% of Cortland Associates Inc. MO's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Cortland Associates Inc. MO's holdings in Alphabet were worth $32,908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 580,897.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $23,963,208,000 after buying an additional 135,064,454 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,622,943,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after purchasing an additional 9,687,855 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Alphabet by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after purchasing an additional 9,243,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $369,713,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $237.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $226.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.66. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $256.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $241.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.