Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by Private Client Services LLC

Private Client Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 31.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,030 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,456 shares during the period. Private Client Services LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 164,533 shares of company stock valued at $26,772,774. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $2.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $169.73. 52,598,920 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,980,356. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $159.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.59. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

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.