McCarthy Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,244 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• McCarthy Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 44.3%, selling 1,244 shares and bringing its holdings to 1,566 shares, valued at approximately $245,000.
• Multiple hedge funds have adjusted their positions in Alphabet, with Baupost Group LLC increasing its stake by 45.7%, now holding over 2 million shares valued at about $324 million.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with the payout date set for September 15th, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.4%.

McCarthy Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 44.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,566 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,244 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.2% of McCarthy Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. McCarthy Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Full Sail Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 2,698 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 53,125 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,300,000 after buying an additional 1,642 shares in the last quarter. Anson Funds Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $1,562,000. Baupost Group LLC MA lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 45.7% during the 1st quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 2,077,988 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $324,644,000 after buying an additional 652,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,793 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,061,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,137.64. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $206.72 on Monday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $187.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.60. 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 has a market cap of $2.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $209.23.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend 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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