Nexus Investment Management ULC Sells 500 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Nexus Investment Management ULC lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,635 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 5.0% of Nexus Investment Management ULC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Nexus Investment Management ULC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $32,908,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 164,533 shares of company stock valued at $26,772,774. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $172.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.39.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders 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 is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio 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.