S&CO Inc. Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• S&CO Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 12.9% during the first quarter, bringing its total shareholding to 120,802, worth approximately $18.87 million.
• Despite S&CO's reduction, other institutional investors have increased their positions in Alphabet, with FMR LLC and Northern Trust Corp among those boosting their stakes significantly in the fourth quarter.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a payout ratio of 8.95% and a yield of 0.43%, to be paid on September 15th.

S&CO Inc. trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 12.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 120,802 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 17,873 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.3% of S&CO Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. S&CO Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,470,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,189,592 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $19,894,651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,606 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,455,571,000 after purchasing an additional 294,556 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $2.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $189.95. 21,082,839 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,310,764. The firm's fifty day moving average is $178.96 and its 200-day moving average is $174.70. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.01. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $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 (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.