Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $484.21 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,099,413 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 26,586 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's holdings in Alphabet were worth $484,214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Lake Street Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.40.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 215,843 shares of company stock worth $37,288,490. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $1.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $185.94. The stock had a trading volume of 20,915,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,559,132. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $174.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

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.