Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Stake Lowered by Steamboat Capital Partners LLC

Key Points

• Steamboat Capital Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 5.3%, now owning 100,000 shares, which is worth approximately $15.6 million.
• Analysts have issued various upgrades for GOOG, with JPMorgan Chase raising the target price from $200 to $232, reflecting strong confidence in the stock's performance.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21, with an annualized yield of 0.4%, set for payment on September 15th to shareholders of record.

Steamboat Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,000 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,604 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 4.7% of Steamboat Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Steamboat Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,605,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,263,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 10,648 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,664,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $265.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 222,210 shares of company stock worth $41,742,155 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $19.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $231.10. The stock had a trading volume of 70,744,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,976,586. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $193.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $231.80. 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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.