Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Position Reduced by Baskin Financial Services Inc.

Baskin Financial Services Inc. lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 363,440 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 31,523 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 5.7% of Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $66,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 109,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $16,730,000 after buying an additional 11,646 shares during the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 7,446 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Apexium Financial LP increased its position in Alphabet by 335.9% during the 4th quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 53,823 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,586,000 after purchasing an additional 41,476 shares in the last quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Ridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 187,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,508,000 after purchasing an additional 8,201 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total value of $118,572.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,209,888.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total value of $118,572.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,209,888.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 179,065 shares of company stock worth $31,025,543. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $1.94 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $167.43. 14,281,621 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,309,939. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.50. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.46 and a 52-week high of $193.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its 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 return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.86.

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.