Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Holdings Boosted by Sheets Smith Wealth Management

Sheets Smith Wealth Management raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 8.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 122,271 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,514 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.4% of Sheets Smith Wealth Management's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Sheets Smith Wealth Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,044 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the period. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 31,967 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,088,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $204,262,000. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 246.2% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,698 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,085,000 after acquiring an additional 4,052 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $3.84 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $178.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 73,956,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,984,165. The business has a fifty day moving average of $167.82 and a 200-day moving average of $176.02. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. 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%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 216,195 shares of company stock worth $35,764,898 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.