Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Position Trimmed by Westwind Capital

Westwind Capital cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 150,327 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 13,888 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 5.8% of Westwind Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Westwind Capital’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,886,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,101,040,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,649,838,000 after acquiring an additional 9,703,425 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,600,970,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 198.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,882,882 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $547,215,000 after acquiring an additional 2,583,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 93.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,591,383 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $647,064,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222,950 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $176.45 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $170.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.83 and a 1-year high of $182.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.67, for a total transaction of $3,502,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,325,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,012,608.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total value of $105,566.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,958 shares of company stock valued at $22,383,553 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.