Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA

Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 22.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,747 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.7%

Alphabet stock opened at $178.79 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $163.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.88.

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.