Sentry LLC Sells 429 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sentry LLC lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,720 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 429 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 0.3% of Sentry LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Sentry LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total value of $118,572.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,209,888.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Alphabet 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 transaction of $3,973,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,235,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $394,746,532.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,209,888.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 179,065 shares of company stock valued at $31,025,543. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $1.94 on Friday, hitting $167.43. 14,281,621 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,309,939. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $176.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.50. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $121.46 and a 52 week high of $193.31. The company has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, June 28th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $182.86.

Alphabet 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.