Flputnam Investment Management Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 2.1%, selling 3,345 shares, and now owns 154,474 shares valued at approximately $24.1 million.
• Alphabet reported a quarterly revenue of $96.43 billion for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with earnings per share of $2.31.
• The company's recent dividend announcement includes a payout of $0.21 per share to be distributed on September 15th, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.4%.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 154,474 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,345 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its position in Alphabet by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. jvl associates llc grew its position in Alphabet by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Members Trust Co grew its position in Alphabet by 84.7% in the 1st quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 4,999 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 2,292 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.19.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $213.53 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $215.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's fifty day moving average is $191.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.50.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $47,225,230. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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