Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Vulcan Value Partners LLC

Vulcan Value Partners LLC lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 22.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,980,905 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 566,910 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 5.5% of Vulcan Value Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Vulcan Value Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $363,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Capital International Investors lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 7,470,042 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 19.7% in the first 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 Alphabet by 2.2% in the first 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 lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.0% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Alphabet by 4.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,657,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,688,743,000 after buying an additional 636,008 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $165.29 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 price of $164.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.77. 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 $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.29.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total transaction of $600,175.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total transaction of $600,175.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,655.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.74, for a total transaction of $4,201,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,227,385 shares in the company, valued at $415,941,874.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 203,367 shares of company stock worth $34,079,756. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.