HM Payson & Co. Raises Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

HM Payson & Co. grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,453,882 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,582 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 4.0% of HM Payson & Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. HM Payson & Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $227,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,329,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total value of $5,553,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,620,196 shares in the company, valued at $447,712,890.52. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $180.22. The company had a trading volume of 13,287,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,210,158. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G 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 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $169.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.49.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, research 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 was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group cut their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" 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 given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.38.

Alphabet Company 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.