Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC Sells 1,340 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 14.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,646 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,340 shares during the quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Alphabet by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 181,679.1% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,575,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 255,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,695,000. This represents a 3.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.38.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $180.22 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $169.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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.