Orca Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Orca Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,522 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 453 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.0% of Orca Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Orca Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $206.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $222.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.08.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $163.59 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $191.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $164.72 and a 200 day moving average of $165.55. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,421,948.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 180,167 shares of company stock worth $29,762,606. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.