Sather Financial Group Inc Sells 68,320 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Sather Financial Group Inc reduced its investment in Alphabet Inc. by 8.6%, selling 68,320 shares and maintaining approximately 730,149 shares in total, making Alphabet its second largest holding.
• Recent analyst actions include Raymond James raising its price target from $185 to $210, while several firms have varied ratings, leading to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $215.19.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, set to be paid on September 15th, representing an annual yield of 0.43%.

Sather Financial Group Inc trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 730,149 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 68,320 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 7.4% of Sather Financial Group Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Sather Financial Group Inc's holdings in Alphabet were worth $114,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 17,328 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,300,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Kidder Stephen W increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Kidder Stephen W now owns 3,608 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $687,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Objectivity Squared LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,605,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Tranquility Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,263,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOG. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business'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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,409 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,710 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $194.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.67. The company has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

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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