Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 66.9% in the first quarter, now owning 3,146 shares valued at approximately $491,000.
• Alphabet has reported a EPS of $2.31 for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $2.12, with revenues reaching $96.43 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.4%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 8th.

Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 66.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,146 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,356 shares during the quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $96,465,000 after buying an additional 20,855 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 1,522.4% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 70,410 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,409,000 after purchasing an additional 66,070 shares in the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $88,000. Finally, Westbourne Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,992,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $47,225,230 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $1.16 on Monday, reaching $213.53. 24,667,279 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,823,590. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $215.34. The company has a market cap of $2.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.01. 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 50-day moving average of $191.31 and a 200-day moving average of $175.41.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share 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 $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Pivotal Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Company 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.