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

World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 163,363 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,837 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.7% of World Investment Advisors' holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Alphabet were worth $25,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,573 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $180.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.49. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,575,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 255,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,695,000. The trade was a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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