Bard Financial Services Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Bard Financial Services Inc. cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,040 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,550 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 9,687,855 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,971,861,000 after purchasing an additional 9,243,959 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.4% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,345,784 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,334,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,380,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,183,979,000 after purchasing an additional 440,526 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,429,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOG. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Lake Street Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Phillip Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $241.38 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $242.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

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.