Yacktman Asset Management LP Sells 290,715 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Yacktman Asset Management LP reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 17.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,404,452 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 290,715 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.9% of Yacktman Asset Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Yacktman Asset Management LP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $219,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in 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 Alphabet in the first quarter worth $26,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4%

GOOG opened at $175.16 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.29. The firm has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total transaction of $5,553,275.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,620,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $447,712,890.52. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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