Objective Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Objective Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 47.2%, now holding 2,083 shares worth approximately $325,000 after selling 1,860 shares.
• Alphabet reported earnings of $2.31 EPS for the quarter, surpassing estimates of $2.12, with revenue of $96.43 billion against expectations of $93.67 billion.
• Insiders have sold 249,409 shares of Alphabet stock valued at $43.5 million over the last three months, indicating active insider trading activities as insider ownership sits at 12.99%.

Objective Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 47.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,083 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,860 shares during the quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,470,344,000 after acquiring an additional 3,189,592 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $19,894,651,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,606 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,376,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,455,571,000 after acquiring an additional 294,556 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 249,409 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,710. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $194.08 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.67. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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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