New England Research & Management Inc. Buys 3,669 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

New England Research & Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,090 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,669 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 3.9% of New England Research & Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. New England Research & Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,425,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,005,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perritt Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 618 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded down $1.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $174.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 27,636,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,440,616. The firm has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $162.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company 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 is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wedbush set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

Alphabet 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.