Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 51,768 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 11.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 393,847 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 51,768 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.8% of Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $61,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in Alphabet by 10.2% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,329,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Services LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% in the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $166.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.51, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 228,070 shares of company stock valued at $37,745,632 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group cut their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank cut their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.88.

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.