Hodges Capital Management Inc. Sells 4,550 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 26.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,550 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Weaver Consulting Group increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Weaver Consulting Group now owns 9,160 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% in the first quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 5,011 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. WD Rutherford LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the first quarter. WD Rutherford LLC now owns 32,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,884,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its position in Alphabet by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 55,222 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,335,000 after buying an additional 2,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 143,839 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $21,710,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $182.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The business has a 50-day moving average of $172.85 and a 200-day moving average of $154.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.35 and a fifty-two week high of $186.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.67, for a total transaction of $3,502,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,325,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,012,608.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.67, for a total value of $3,502,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,325,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,012,608.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 142,344 shares of company stock worth $23,920,676. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.66.

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.