Norden Group LLC Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Norden Group LLC reduced its investment in Alphabet Inc. by 17.0%, now holding 43,347 shares valued at approximately $6.77 million.
• In its most recent quarterly earnings report, Alphabet reported an EPS of $2.31 and a revenue of $96.43 billion, both exceeding analyst expectations.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a payout ratio of 8.95% and an annual yield of 0.43%, set to be paid on September 15th.

Norden Group LLC trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 17.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,347 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,896 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.8% of Norden Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Norden Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $194.08 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $176.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The firm's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value 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. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 249,409 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,710. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.19.

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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