Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 33.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,148 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,557 shares during the period. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after buying an additional 14,246,573 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $166.01 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.33. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.51, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOG. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total transaction of $32,380.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,544.70. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 228,070 shares of company stock worth $37,745,632. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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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