Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Ameritas Advisory Services LLC

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 18.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 13.8% during the first quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,349 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the first quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 264,213 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $40,858,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.8% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 1,281,303 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $198,141,000 after buying an additional 22,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 5.9% in the first quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 67,903 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,501,000 after buying an additional 3,771 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $176.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 42,989,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,791,107. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $169.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00.

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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. 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 (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. UBS Group set a $195.00 target price on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective (up from $180.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $200.13.

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.