Independent Investors Inc. Has $1.65 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Independent Investors Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 10.8%, leaving it with a total of $1.65 million worth of shares.
• Insider sales have been notable, with John Kent Walker selling 23,820 shares for over $4.6 million, reducing his ownership by 35.65%.
• Alphabet's recent EPS of $2.31 exceeded estimates, and the company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share.

Independent Investors Inc. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,300 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,130 shares during the period. Independent Investors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% during 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 during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Robbins Farley grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of GOOG opened at $246.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $256.70. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $220.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.43. 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 (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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. KeyCorp set a $265.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Scotiabank raised their price target 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. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.33.

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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