Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Grimes & Company Inc.

Grimes & Company Inc. cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 171,074 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,858 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.8% of Grimes & Company Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Grimes & Company Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $26,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $173.32 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.73. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value 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 $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

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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