Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Has $12.66 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 2.3% during the first quarter, resulting in 81,000 shares valued at $12.66 million, making it the firm's 29th largest position.
• Insiders at Alphabet recently sold a significant number of shares, with John Kent Walker selling 23,820 shares for approximately $4.64 million and CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares for around $5.80 million, indicating a decrease in their ownership stakes.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, payable on September 15, with a current yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,000 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,914 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.9% of Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Barclays reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 274,219 shares of company stock worth $49,674,273 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $204.16 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a 50 day moving average of $183.25 and a 200-day moving average of $174.55. The company has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.74, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 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.

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