Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by Capital Investment Advisors LLC

Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 19.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 38,862 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,231 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.0%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $174.92 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.09. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.88.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638. 12.99% of the stock is 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.

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