Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Essex Savings Bank

Essex Savings Bank cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,351 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,518 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.2% of Essex Savings Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Essex Savings Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,470,344,000 after buying an additional 3,189,592 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $19,894,651,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,606 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position 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 valued at $10,873,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,455,571,000 after purchasing an additional 294,556 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $177.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $165.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.44. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total transaction of $5,483,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,587,696 shares in the company, valued at $436,570,192.16. The trade was a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.

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