Focus Financial Network Inc. Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Focus Financial Network Inc. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 34.9% in the 2nd quarter, selling 7,457 shares and retaining a total of 13,919 shares worth approximately $2.47 million.
• Several hedge funds made significant changes to their positions in Alphabet, with Nuveen LLC acquiring new shares valued at about $2.62 billion in the first quarter.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.3% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Focus Financial Network Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 34.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,919 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,457 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $2,622,943,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after acquiring an additional 9,687,855 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Alphabet by 9.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after acquiring an additional 9,243,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $786,942,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total transaction of $8,108,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,397,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $598,149,304. This represents a 1.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays restated 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 research report on Wednesday, July 9th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.56.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $2.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $255.24. The company had a trading volume of 41,503,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,489,492. The company's fifty day moving average is $210.08 and its 200 day moving average is $181.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $256.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.01.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

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.