Barton Investment Management Sells 875 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Barton Investment Management lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,825 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 875 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 0.2% of Barton Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Barton Investment Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,044 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares in the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 31,967 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,088,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $204,262,000. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 246.2% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,085,000 after buying an additional 4,052 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.0%

GOOG stock opened at $174.92 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $161.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.88.

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.