Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC Decreases Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. by 2.1% during the second quarter, now owning 69,371 shares valued at approximately $12.3 million.
• Alphabet reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with $2.31 EPS and revenues of $96.43 billion, exceeding analysts' estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21, which equates to an annual yield of 0.3%, reflecting a low payout ratio of 8.95%.

Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,371 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,475 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.0% of Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 400.0% during the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley lifted its stake in Alphabet by 60.0% during the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $245.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.14, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $225.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.71. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $256.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share 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 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 for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Phillip Securities lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho raised Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.68.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total value of $7,910,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,402,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,699,785.79. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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