Cresset Asset Management LLC Sells 81,082 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Cresset Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 9.3%, selling 81,082 shares and retaining 790,101 shares, which are valued at approximately $123 million.
• Insider transactions included CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares, and John Kent Walker selling 23,820 shares, indicating a combined decrease in their positions.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid on September 15th, representing a 0.4% dividend yield.

Cresset Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 790,101 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 81,082 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.6% of Cresset Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Cresset Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $123,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in Alphabet by 10.2% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,329,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% in the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, jvl associates llc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% in the first quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,571,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $122,274.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's 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 sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 274,819 shares of company stock worth $49,796,547. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $1.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $204.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,099,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,041,420. The business's 50-day moving average price is $185.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Lake Street Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Three equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

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.