Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Sells 2,815 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Osterweis Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 0.6%, selling 2,815 shares and now owning 483,754 shares valued at approximately $75.6 million.
• Several institutional investors, including ProShare Advisors LLC, significantly increased their stakes in Alphabet during the fourth quarter, with ProShare growing its share by 22.7%.
• Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $0.84 and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 483,754 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,815 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.0% of Osterweis Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Osterweis Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $75,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in Alphabet by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $96,465,000 after buying an additional 20,855 shares during the last quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $737,000. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,248 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,142,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,250,211 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $618,970,000 after acquiring an additional 601,425 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. KeyCorp set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four 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 issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,429,892 shares of the company's stock, 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 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $240.78 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $242.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.64, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.01. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $201.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.39.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Alphabet Company Profile

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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