Altus Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Altus Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,935 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.2% of Altus Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Altus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 23.7% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 1,515 shares during the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.4% during the first quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 25,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,947,000 after buying an additional 3,714 shares during the last quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.4% during the first quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 5,743 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $874,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its position in Alphabet by 5.7% during the first quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 126,713 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,293,000 after purchasing an additional 6,784 shares during the period. Finally, DLK Investment Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1.3% in the first quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 66,616 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,143,000 after acquiring an additional 859 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total transaction of $266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $663,107.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total value of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $663,107.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 146,374 shares of company stock valued at $24,548,073. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $185.37. The stock had a trading volume of 13,366,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,367,336. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $172.69 and a 200-day moving average of $154.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.83 and a 12-month high of $185.93.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion during 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 company’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 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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.