Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Intech Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 25.8%, selling 196,371 shares to hold 563,780 shares post-sale, which accounts for 0.9% of its portfolio.
• Several institutional investors, including Brighton Jones LLC and Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG, increased their positions in Alphabet during the fourth quarter, with overall institutional ownership at 27.26%.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.4%, with an ex-dividend date set for September 8.

Intech Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 25.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 563,780 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 196,371 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.9% of Intech Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $88,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,329,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. jvl associates llc lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Members Trust Co increased its stake in Alphabet by 84.7% in the 1st quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 4,999 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $781,000 after buying an additional 2,292 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. 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 research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $241.38. 14,519,054 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,942,092. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $242.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.39.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.