Rockland Trust Co. Sells 2,997 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Rockland Trust Co. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 13.8%, owning 18,790 shares valued at approximately $3.33 million after selling 2,997 shares in the second quarter.
• Alphabet recently reported a net margin of 31.12% and a quarterly revenue of $96.43 billion, surpassing analyst expectations and marking a 13.8% increase compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $0.84 with a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Rockland Trust Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 13.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 18,790 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,997 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,622,943,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 18,562.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after acquiring an additional 14,246,573 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $64,299,725,000 after buying an additional 9,687,855 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Alphabet by 9.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after purchasing an additional 9,243,959 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $786,942,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's 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 $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $252.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,461,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,907,775. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $211.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.24. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $256.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 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 previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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 reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of 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 reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $230.35.

Alphabet 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.