Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,742,882 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 159,760 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.8% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Alphabet were worth $428,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings 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 worth $2,329,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% during the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $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.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.88.
Read Our Latest Research Report on GOOG
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% 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, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% 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. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Alphabet Stock Down 0.4%
Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $177.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,138,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,417,432. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.21.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.
About Alphabet
(
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.
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