Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Has $6.15 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 18.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 36,538 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,034 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% in 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 buying an additional 7,574,417 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,178,470,000 after buying an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $189.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.95.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 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 transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total value of $5,553,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,620,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $447,712,890.52. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. 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. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock traded down $2.65 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $176.88. The stock had a trading volume of 7,914,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,500,162. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.77. 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 earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. 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 is 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.