Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 362,726 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 13,532 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.0% of Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $64,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 400.0% during the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Robbins Farley raised its stake in Alphabet by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 58.7% during the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 121.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $275.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.81.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $276.98 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $257.84 and a 200 day moving average of $209.82. The company has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $292.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.92, for a total transaction of $145,752.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,242,778.72. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,337,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,526,494.12. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 221,796 shares of company stock worth $53,983,001 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.