Compass Capital Corp MA ADV Decreases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Compass Capital Corp MA ADV decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 14.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,234 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,326 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.1% of Compass Capital Corp MA ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Compass Capital Corp MA ADV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of GOOG opened at $173.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $166.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.43. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total transaction of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,544.70. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.