Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 24,867 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 5.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 409,212 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 24,867 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.8% of Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $63,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL traded up $4.99 during trading on Friday, reaching $178.53. 107,974,317 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 31,238,454. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $166.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.52. The company has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company 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 period last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is a boost 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%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 216,195 shares of company stock valued at $35,764,898. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Bank of America increased their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wedbush set a $190.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JMP Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.95.

Alphabet Company 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.