PGIM Custom Harvest LLC Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

PGIM Custom Harvest LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,365 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 565 shares during the period. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Objectivity Squared LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,605,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Tranquility Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,263,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 10,648 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,664,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $200.19 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a fifty day moving average of $186.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.88. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.32, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,494,892 shares in the company, valued at $489,572,657.16. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 222,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,725,772 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.