Sentry Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. by 13.7%, holding 14,940 shares worth approximately $2.6 million at the end of Q2.
• Alphabet reported Q2 earnings of $2.31 per share, exceeding expectations of $2.12, with revenue reaching $96.43 billion, up 13.8% year-over-year.
• Despite mixed analyst ratings, the consensus target price for Alphabet stocks is $246.26, with a prevailing "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts.

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,940 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,373 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.4% of Sentry Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Sentry Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 107.9% in the first quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,659 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 19.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 91,681 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $14,323,000 after purchasing an additional 14,931 shares in the last quarter. Embree Financial Group lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.2% in the first quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 16,007 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,501,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Petros Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the first quarter. Petros Family Wealth LLC now owns 14,678 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,293,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $252.53 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $257.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $235.22 and a 200 day moving average of $194.81. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group set a $255.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Phillip Securities lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. KeyCorp set a $265.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Pivotal Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $246.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $694,638.90. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,629,725.80. This trade represents a 16.06% 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, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 246,150 shares of company stock worth $55,805,379. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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