Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Rossmore Private Capital

Key Points

• Rossmore Private Capital reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 2.3% during the first quarter, holding 79,191 shares valued at approximately $12.37 million.
• Various institutional investors have adjusted their positions in Alphabet, with Brighton Jones LLC and Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increasing their stakes by 5.6% and 4.3%, respectively.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, to be paid on September 15th, representing an annualized yield of 0.4%.

Rossmore Private Capital reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,191 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,827 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.5% of Rossmore Private Capital's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Rossmore Private Capital's holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $2,622,943,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 18,562.3% in 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 buying an additional 14,246,573 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after buying an additional 9,687,855 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Alphabet by 9.9% in 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 buying an additional 9,243,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Alphabet by 16.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was 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 Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the business'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 value of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 274,219 shares of company stock worth $49,674,273 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of GOOG stock traded down $1.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $203.03. 19,558,050 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,310,356. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $183.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.