Bellecapital International Ltd. Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Bellecapital International Ltd. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,404 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.4% of Bellecapital International Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Bellecapital International Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total value of $5,483,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,587,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $436,570,192.16. The trade was a 1.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.88.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $178.79 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. 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.