Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 29.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,457 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,389 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its holdings in Alphabet by 10.2% in 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 grew 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 valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity at Alphabet
In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total transaction of $5,553,275.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. KeyCorp dropped 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. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.38.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on GOOG
Alphabet Stock Performance
NASDAQ GOOG opened at $180.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap 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 current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.60.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.
Alphabet Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report).
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Alphabet, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Alphabet wasn't on the list.
While Alphabet currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Which stocks are likely to thrive in today's challenging market? Enter your email address and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of ten stocks that will drive in any economic environment.
Get This Free Report
