Alphabet Inc. $GOOG is First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s 7th Largest Position

Key Points

• First Manhattan CO. LLC. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 0.8%, holding 5,362,521 shares valued at approximately $837.8 million, making it the firm's 7th largest investment.
• Alphabet reported earnings of $2.31 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $96.43 billion, representing a 13.8% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 to be paid in September, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,362,521 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 40,783 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.4% of First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $837,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 222,210 shares of company stock worth $41,742,155 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp set a $265.00 target price on Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised 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. Five investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.56.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of GOOG traded up $1.56 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $232.66. 29,991,708 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,984,277. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $232.77. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $194.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued 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 presently 8.95%.

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.