Southeast Asset Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Southeast Asset Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 1.9%, now owning 443,174 shares valued at approximately $69.24 million.
• During the first quarter, several institutional investors increased their stakes in Alphabet, including Nuveen LLC, which added a new position valued at $2.62 billion.
• Alphabet's stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target price of $215.19, following various upgrades and downgrades by analysts.

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 443,174 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,649 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 8.5% of Southeast Asset Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $69,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,622,943,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 18,562.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after acquiring an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 2.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $64,299,725,000 after acquiring an additional 9,687,855 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Alphabet by 9.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,971,861,000 after acquiring an additional 9,243,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 target price (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $206.72 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $209.23. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $187.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.02. 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 announced 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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