BLB&B Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

BLB&B Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,085 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 348 shares during the quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 11.9% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 109,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $16,730,000 after buying an additional 11,646 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Apexium Financial LP raised its position in Alphabet by 335.9% in the 4th quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 53,823 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,586,000 after purchasing an additional 41,476 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 4.6% in the first quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 187,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,508,000 after purchasing an additional 8,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 62,917 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,580,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG traded down $1.88 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $164.50. 15,177,795 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,189,111. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $121.46 and a 1-year high of $193.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total value of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,159,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,126,319.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at $362,126,319.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at $5,209,888.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 179,065 shares of company stock valued at $31,025,543 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, June 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $182.86.

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.