Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 62 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.7% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,232,000. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 964.3% in the fourth quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 482,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $68,027,000 after purchasing an additional 437,345 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 872.7% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 325,089 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,815,000 after buying an additional 291,667 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4,516.1% in the 4th quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 93,568 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,187,000 after buying an additional 91,541 shares during the period. Finally, VCI Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $363,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $1.94 on Friday, hitting $167.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,281,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,309,939. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.64. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $121.46 and a 1 year high of $193.31.

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 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $182.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total transaction of $3,652,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,182,385 shares in the company, valued at $354,310,204.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,209,888.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total transaction of $3,652,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $354,310,204.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 179,065 shares of company stock worth $31,025,543. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.