Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stake Trimmed by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Howard Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 3.0%, now holding 64,823 shares valued at over $10 million, according to a recent SEC filing.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Alphabet's stock, with three analysts issuing sell ratings, whereas seventeen rate it as a buy, contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing a yield of 0.43% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Howard Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 64,823 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,990 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 249,298 shares of company stock worth $43,505,967. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $197.44. 21,048,793 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,257,904. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $178.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market cap of $2.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.03, a PEG ratio of 1.30 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 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.