Northstar Advisory Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Northstar Advisory Group LLC has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 40.2%, owning 1,483 shares worth $263,000 after selling 999 shares in the second quarter.
• Insider sales include Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares for approximately $7.47 million, while director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares, indicating increased insider activity.
• Alphabet has released its quarterly earnings, reporting a 13.8% year-over-year revenue increase and an EPS of $2.31, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Northstar Advisory Group LLC cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 40.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,483 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 999 shares during the period. Northstar Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 111.8% during the first 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 period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Lake Street Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. KeyCorp set a $265.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.56.

Alphabet Stock Up 4.3%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $251.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $204.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.48. 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 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $252.75. The company has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01.

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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was 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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