Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,938,062 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 651,148 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 3.1% of Bessemer Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Alphabet worth $1,708,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,573 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOG. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.68, for a total transaction of $5,742,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,555,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $451,452,029.28. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 216,195 shares of company stock valued at $35,764,898. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.2%

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $3.84 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $178.27. 73,956,281 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,984,165. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. Alphabet's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

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.