Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is Brown Advisory Inc.'s 7th Largest Position

Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,864,793 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 18,627 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.4% of Brown Advisory Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Brown Advisory Inc. owned about 0.08% of Alphabet worth $1,878,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,206,393 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,181,946,000 after buying an additional 108,937 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 117,772 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,428,000 after purchasing an additional 4,874 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its position in Alphabet by 39.8% in the 4th quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 47,247 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,998,000 after buying an additional 13,454 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $156,552,000. Finally, Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,356,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 148,164 shares of company stock worth $25,357,390. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $165.81 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on GOOG. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.94.

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.

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