Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Strive Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Strive Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 10.9%, now holding 11,948 shares valued at approximately $1.87 million, marking it as the 23rd largest position in their portfolio.
• Institutional investors have shown varied interest, with some firms increasing their holdings significantly, while over 27% of the stock is now owned by hedge funds.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations with an EPS of $2.31, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, set to be paid on September 15th.

Strive Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 10.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,948 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,466 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.3% of Strive Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Strive Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $241.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,519,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,624,780. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $242.57. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $202.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.83.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Alphabet's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.56.

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.