Bridges Investment Management Inc. Has $250.55 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,620,212 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,831 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 3.6% of Bridges Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Bridges Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $250,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. FMR LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $18,672,198,000 after acquiring an additional 7,574,417 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna cut their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $203.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.68.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $0.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $184.05. 10,761,344 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,009,831. The company has a market cap of $2.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.00. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $172.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - 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 the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm'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 value of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 215,843 shares of company stock worth $37,288,490 in the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.