Carson Advisory Inc. Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Carson Advisory Inc. lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 42.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,256 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,697 shares during the quarter. Carson Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,355,724,000 after buying an additional 7,470,042 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,815,986,000 after buying an additional 13,876,534 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,731,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,963,128,000 after buying an additional 979,083 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,558,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,414,179,000 after buying an additional 684,968 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $4,101,040,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $155.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.46 and a 52-week high of $193.31. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $169.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.83.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at $5,623,355.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.74, for a total value of $4,201,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,227,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $415,941,874.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 201,867 shares of company stock worth $34,218,581. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.