M&T Bank Corp Sells 118,787 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

M&T Bank Corp cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,186,880 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 118,787 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.2% of M&T Bank Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $341,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after buying an additional 14,246,573 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after buying an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG traded down $2.40 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $175.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,067,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,220,780. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $170.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.29. 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 $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were 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 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,575,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 255,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,695,000. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp cut their target price on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.38.

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.