Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Purchased by Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 85,983 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $26,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.3%

Alphabet stock traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $180.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,287,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,210,158. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The stock's fifty day moving average is $169.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.49.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. 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. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 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 transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.38.

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.