MRA Advisory Group Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

by · The Cerbat Gem

MRA Advisory Group reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG – Free Report) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,827 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 828 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.8% of MRA Advisory Group’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. MRA Advisory Group’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 287.9% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of GOOG opened at $169.81 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $161.56 and a 200 day moving average of $176.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Westpark Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.88.

View Our Latest Report on Alphabet

Alphabet Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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