Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is Baird Financial Group Inc.'s 4th Largest Position

Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,206,393 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 108,937 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 2.3% of Baird Financial Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Alphabet worth $1,181,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 146,824 shares of company stock worth $25,086,603 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5 %

GOOG stock traded down $0.85 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $165.20. 10,582,792 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,141,358. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.52, 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 quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

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.