Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Position Lowered by Professional Advisory Services Inc.

Professional Advisory Services Inc. lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 184,628 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,596 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 4.0% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Professional Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.88.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $174.92 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $161.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.09. The company has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.73, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is 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.

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