Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Sells 416 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,850 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 416 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 109,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $16,730,000 after buying an additional 11,646 shares in the last quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 5.3% during the second quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Apexium Financial LP grew its holdings in Alphabet by 335.9% in the fourth 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 increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% during the first quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 187,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,508,000 after purchasing an additional 8,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares in the company, valued at $339,160,251.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,137,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,160,251.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $125,126.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 200,532 shares of company stock valued at $34,055,874 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $152.13 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $121.46 and a one year high of $193.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $172.50 and a 200 day moving average of $165.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.05.

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. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Wolfe Research raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.