Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,854 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 215 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.5% of Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position 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 valued at $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Services LLC raised its position 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 valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC raised its position 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 valued at $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.88.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $174.92 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.73, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.05. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,587,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $436,570,192.16. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.