Salvus Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,245 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Salvus Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,245 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 3.7% of Salvus Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Salvus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $281,000. Finally, jvl associates llc raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.88.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $169.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $161.29 and a 200-day moving average of $176.14.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.