Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Dodge & Cox

Key Points

• Dodge & Cox reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 6%, owning approximately 17 million shares worth about $2.66 billion, making it the company's 23rd largest holding.
• Alphabet's stock has received multiple positive ratings upgrades from analysts, with Oppenheimer setting a price target of $235.00 and Pivotal Research raising it to $245.00.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, expected to be paid on September 15th, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.4%.

Dodge & Cox decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,048,361 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,083,396 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.5% of Dodge & Cox's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Dodge & Cox owned approximately 0.14% of Alphabet worth $2,663,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 39.3% during the fourth 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 increased its stake in Alphabet by 10.2% during the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% during the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. jvl associates llc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% during the first quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Members Trust Co lifted its stake in Alphabet by 84.7% during the first quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 4,999 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 2,292 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $6.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $206.72. 25,689,130 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,873,476. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $209.23. The stock's fifty day moving average is $187.71 and its 200 day moving average is $174.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.01, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 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. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172 over the last ninety days. 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.