Strategic Advocates LLC Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Strategic Advocates LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 26.6%, now holding 17,256 shares valued at $2.67 million, making it the fund's 18th largest investment.
• Multiple hedge funds increased their positions in Alphabet, with Jefferies Financial Group raising their holdings by 38.1%, now owning 396,382 shares worth over $61 million.
• Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, expected to be paid on September 15th, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.4% and a low payout ratio of 8.95%.

Strategic Advocates LLC cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 26.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,256 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,239 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.9% of Strategic Advocates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Strategic Advocates LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,123 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.0% during the first quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 47,475 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,341,000 after buying an additional 2,681 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 150,030 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $23,201,000 after buying an additional 1,367 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 38.1% in the first quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 396,382 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $61,296,000 after buying an additional 109,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gruss & Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 20.0% during the first quarter. Gruss & Co. LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GOOGL. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Westpark Capital lifted their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $201.42 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

About Alphabet

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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