Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Position Decreased by Lodestone Wealth Management LLC

Lodestone Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,818 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 595 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.0% of Lodestone Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $4,101,040,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 19.7% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,815,986,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876,534 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $1,378,708,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,355,724,000 after purchasing an additional 7,470,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 198.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,882,882 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $547,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,583,128 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG traded down $5.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $160.74. 14,611,658 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,467,922. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $121.46 and a 1-year high of $193.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $178.20 and a 200-day moving average of $163.67. The stock has a market cap of $1.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.58, for a total value of $3,973,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,235,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $394,746,532.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.58, for a total transaction of $3,973,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,235,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $394,746,532.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 121,608 shares of company stock worth $21,567,504. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 28th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.86.

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.