Howland Capital Management LLC Has $6.84 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Howland Capital Management LLC has increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 15.9%, acquiring an additional 6,015 shares, bringing its total holdings to 43,752 shares valued at approximately $6.84 million.
• CEO Sundar Pichai recently sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet's stock for $5.8 million, reducing his ownership by 1.25% to about 2.56 million shares valued at nearly $457 million.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid on September 15th, with a current annualized yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Howland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 15.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,752 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,015 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 8.3% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,969 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680 shares during the period. Invictus Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.2% in the first quarter. Invictus Private Wealth LLC now owns 185,530 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,985,000 after purchasing an additional 2,180 shares during the period. Elios Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 7.1% in the first quarter. Elios Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Pasadena Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 24.3% in the first quarter. Pasadena Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,401 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835 shares during the period. Finally, Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.6% in the first quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 8,821 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,378,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 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 $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 249,399 shares of company stock valued at $43,525,794. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $2.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $189.95. 21,211,425 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,077,368. 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 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a 50 day moving average of $179.37 and a 200-day moving average of $174.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Alphabet's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

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.