POM Investment Strategies LLC Lowers Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

POM Investment Strategies LLC lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 64.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 216 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $34,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total value of $5,553,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,620,196 shares in the company, valued at $447,712,890.52. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $177.66 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $170.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank decreased their price objective 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. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $207.63.

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.