LFL Advisers LLC Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• LFL Advisers LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) by 2.6%, now owning 119,852 shares, which represents 8.2% of its investment portfolio, valued at approximately $18.72 million.
• Recent analyst ratings for Alphabet indicate a general positive outlook, with an average price target of $215.19 and various ratings including "outperform" and "strong-buy" from multiple firms.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with the dividend yield standing at 0.4%, reflecting a payout ratio of 8.95%.

LFL Advisers LLC trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 119,852 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,178 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 8.2% of LFL Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. LFL Advisers LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the first 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 during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 target price (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $204.91 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $185.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.87.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Alphabet's quarterly revenue 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value 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. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 274,819 shares of company stock valued at $49,796,547 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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