Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 479,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 123 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 3.7% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $72,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $165.67.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $1.49 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $186.86. 13,007,982 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,299,447. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.83 and a 12 month high of $187.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $173.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total value of $3,991,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,213,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $392,588,151.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,213,011 shares in the company, valued at $392,588,151.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total transaction of $266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $663,107.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 146,284 shares of company stock valued at $24,534,393 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.