Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 22.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,842 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 23,296 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.2% of Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 62.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 260 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $164.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.25, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $121.46 and a one year high of $193.31. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.02. 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 202,667 shares of company stock valued at $33,964,256. 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.