Evanson Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Evanson Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 178,377 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 841 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.0% of Evanson Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Evanson Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $27,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Westpark Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.88.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.68, for a total value of $5,742,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,555,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $451,452,029.28. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 228,070 shares of company stock valued at $37,745,632. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $167.73 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.39.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

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.