HS Management Partners LLC Sells 16,975 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

HS Management Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 429,749 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 16,975 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 5.4% of HS Management Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. HS Management Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $67,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at $466,000,536.96. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 215,843 shares of company stock valued at $37,288,490 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock traded up $1.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $185.94. The company had a trading volume of 20,915,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,587,144. The company has a market capitalization of $2.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $174.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.72. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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.