Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 12.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,023 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 423 shares during the period. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $64,299,725,000 after acquiring an additional 9,687,855 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,971,861,000 after purchasing an additional 9,243,959 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 34,103,417 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,494,655,000 after purchasing an additional 769,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 30,827,999 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,870,944,000 after purchasing an additional 1,467,805 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $202.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.19.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total transaction of $6,377,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,494,892 shares in the company, valued at $489,572,657.16. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 242,319 shares of company stock valued at $44,243,272 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.