Permit Capital LLC Decreases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Permit Capital LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,911 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 2.6% of Permit Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Permit Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% during the fourth 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 grew its holdings in Alphabet by 10.2% in 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 last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, jvl associates llc grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the first quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 222,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,725,772 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1%

Alphabet stock opened at $200.19 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $186.62 and a 200 day moving average of $174.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

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.