Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Bought by Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc.

Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 10.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,370 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,049 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.1% of Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $18,672,198,000 after acquiring an additional 7,574,417 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $180.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.00. The company's fifty day moving average is $170.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.31. 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,575,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 255,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,695,000. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given 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 an average target price of $199.61.

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.

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