Invesco LLC Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Invesco LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 575 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 8.7% of Invesco LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Invesco LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its position in Alphabet by 62.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 260 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $48,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $152.15 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $170.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $121.46 and a twelve month high of $193.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,213,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $392,588,151.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total value of $3,991,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,213,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $392,588,151.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 201,867 shares of company stock valued at $34,218,581. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on 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 issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate 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.