Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Decreases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 14.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 799,134 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 137,173 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $124,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Causeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 697,353 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $108,947,000 after buying an additional 101,796 shares during the last quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its stake in Alphabet by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 393,476 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $61,476,000 after buying an additional 30,725 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $180,000. Finally, NCM Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $209.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $188.33 and a 200 day moving average of $174.76. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $211.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

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.