Dillon & Associates Inc. Has $9.63 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Dillon & Associates Inc. has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.7%, now holding 61,728 shares valued at approximately $9.63 million.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be distributed on September 15th, representing an annualized yield of 0.4%.
• The company reported a strong quarterly performance with $2.31 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a 13.8% year-over-year revenue growth.

Dillon & Associates Inc. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,728 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,744 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.4% of Dillon & Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Dillon & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 185,612 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,998,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Gouws Capital LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Gouws Capital LLC now owns 61,256 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,570,000 after buying an additional 3,601 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in Alphabet by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 119,918 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $18,735,000 after buying an additional 17,272 shares during the last quarter. Mainsail Asset Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Mainsail Asset Management LLC now owns 5,948 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $929,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, WP Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 107,655 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $16,819,000 after purchasing an additional 14,858 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $202.11 on Monday. The business's fifty day moving average is $181.90 and its 200 day moving average is $174.35. The firm has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.

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