Shikiar Asset Management Inc. Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Shikiar Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,420 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,032 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 3.9% of Shikiar Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Shikiar Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.88.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $177.94 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $165.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total value of $5,483,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,587,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $436,570,192.16. This represents a 1.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532. 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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