Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stake Lessened by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 23.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,313 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,172 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.6% of Sentry Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $281,000. Finally, jvl associates llc lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.5% during the first quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $170.37 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $160.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.24. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 163,270 shares of company stock worth $26,553,563. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.88.

Alphabet 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.