Greenleaf Trust Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Greenleaf Trust trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 406,101 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 11,936 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.6% of Greenleaf Trust's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Greenleaf Trust's holdings in Alphabet were worth $63,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,329,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $175.16 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.53, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.29.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,575,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 255,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,695,000. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOG. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.38.

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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