Knuff & Co LLC Sells 4,610 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Knuff & Co LLC sold 4,610 shares of Alphabet Inc., decreasing its holdings by 9.8%, which now represent 2.2% of its portfolio worth approximately $6.63 million.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.
• The company reported strong earnings, with a 13.8% rise in revenue year-over-year totaling $96.43 billion, and earnings per share of $2.31, surpassing analysts' estimates.

Knuff & Co LLC lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 9.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,430 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,610 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.2% of Knuff & Co LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Knuff & Co LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.19.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 274,819 shares of company stock valued at $49,796,547. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $1.09 on Friday, reaching $204.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,099,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,041,420. 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 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. The business's 50-day moving average price is $185.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.52.

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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued 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 is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

About Alphabet

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.