Howe & Rusling Inc. Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Howe & Rusling Inc. decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,696 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. NCM Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the first quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Faithward Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the first quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $391,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Objectivity Squared LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the first quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,605,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Tranquility Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the first quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,263,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,429,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $240.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $242.57. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $201.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.39.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.