Kimelman & Baird LLC Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Kimelman & Baird LLC trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,795 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 574 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st 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 bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $203.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. 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 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50 day moving average of $184.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.82.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,287,137.64. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 274,819 shares of company stock valued at $49,796,547. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.19.

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.