Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 625 shares during the quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,960,000 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. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Hutchinson Capital Management CA raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA now owns 3,555 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, M. Kulyk & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 6,445 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOG. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have given 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 a consensus target price of $204.88.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $178.79 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $163.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.21. The company has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

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.