Himalaya Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Himalaya Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 19.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,451,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 592,700 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 17.3% of Himalaya Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Himalaya Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $382,967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.6% during the first quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,550 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 88,019 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,751,000 after buying an additional 37,735 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 10,453 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 8,487 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 16,252 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,539,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $213.53 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.41. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $215.34. The company has a market cap of $2.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $47,225,230 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.