Cullinan Associates Inc. Sells 8,705 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Cullinan Associates Inc. reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 128,717 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,705 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.4% of Cullinan Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Cullinan Associates Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,582 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 4,383 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,490,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $154,716,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock traded up $3.91 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $170.68. 34,362,685 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,801,769. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $165.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 228,070 shares of company stock valued at $37,745,632. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $200.17.

Alphabet 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.