Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Sells 4,076 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 563,793 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,076 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.2% of Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $88,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $26,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 182,943 shares of company stock valued at $31,223,348. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $207.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of GOOG opened at $183.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $172.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.74. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

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.