Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stake Raised by Achmea Investment Management B.V.

Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 37.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 531,875 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 146,155 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.2% of Achmea Investment Management B.V.'s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Achmea Investment Management B.V.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $83,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,329,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% in the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.2%

GOOG traded up $3.84 on Friday, reaching $178.27. 73,956,281 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,984,165. The company has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.02.

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 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.38.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 216,195 shares of company stock worth $35,764,898. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet 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.