Novem Group Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Novem Group lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,437 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,418 shares during the quarter. Novem Group's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $180.22. The company had a trading volume of 13,287,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,182,530. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $169.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total transaction of $5,553,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,620,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $447,712,890.52. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 183,143 shares of company stock worth $30,529,028 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.38.

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.