Capital Investment Counsel Inc Has $16.77 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,367 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 12,730 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.5% of Capital Investment Counsel Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Capital Investment Counsel Inc's holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 31,967 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,088,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $96,465,000 after buying an additional 20,855 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Auxano Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 8,823 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,680,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.38.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $180.22. 13,287,389 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,182,530. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $169.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 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 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

About Alphabet

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.