Sky Investment Group LLC Sells 3,185 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Sky Investment Group LLC has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 7.1%, now holding 41,420 shares worth $7.35 million, representing 1.3% of its portfolio.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet for approximately $8.1 million, reflecting a 1.34% decrease in his ownership of the stock.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, equating to an annualized yield of 0.3% and a dividend payout ratio of 8.95%.

Sky Investment Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,420 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,185 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.3% of Sky Investment Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Sky Investment Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total transaction of $8,108,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,397,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $598,149,304. This represents a 1.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $0.16 on Tuesday, hitting $252.72. 4,719,605 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,911,719. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $256.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $211.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of several research reports. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $230.35.

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.