Polen Capital Management LLC Sells 3,641,843 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Polen Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 32.9%, owning approximately 7.43 million shares after selling over 3.6 million shares in the first quarter.
• Alphabet reported $2.31 per share earnings, exceeding analysts' estimates of $2.12 and showing a 13.8% year-over-year revenue growth with total revenue of $96.43 billion.
• Alphabet has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, set to be paid on September 15th, with an annualized yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Polen Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 32.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,434,428 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,641,843 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 3.6% of Polen Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Polen Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Alphabet worth $1,161,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,376 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.3% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 2.7% in the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, jvl associates llc raised its position in Alphabet by 3.5% in the first quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GOOG. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group raised 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.3%

Alphabet stock traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $203.57. The stock had a trading volume of 8,751,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,985,316. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $183.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 274,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,674,273. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.