Himalaya Capital Management LLC Sells 592,700 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Himalaya Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 19.5% during the first quarter, now holding 2,451,300 shares valued at approximately $383 million.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with the payment date set for September 15th, representing an annualized yield of 0.4%.
• The company reported a 13.8% increase in revenue year-over-year, reaching $96.43 billion for the last quarter, with earnings per share of $2.31 surpassing estimates.

Himalaya Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 19.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,451,300 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 592,700 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 17.3% of Himalaya Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Himalaya Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $382,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $2,622,943,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after buying an additional 14,246,573 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 9,687,855 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Alphabet by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after buying an additional 9,243,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $786,942,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.56.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 222,210 shares of company stock valued at $41,742,155. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG traded up $19.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $231.10. The company had a trading volume of 70,779,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,654,292. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $231.80.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect 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 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 is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.