Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Sells 11,069 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 890,696 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 11,069 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 0.6% of Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $169,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.94.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ GOOG traded down $1.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $154.38. 22,820,181 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,481,223. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $161.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total transaction of $5,075,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,685,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $419,320,207.36. This trade represents a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 146,824 shares of company stock valued at $25,086,603. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.