PFG Investments LLC lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,412 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,164 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.7% of PFG Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. PFG Investments LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in 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 bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $18,672,198,000 after buying an additional 7,574,417 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,635,878,000 after buying an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after buying an additional 10,135,430 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Alphabet Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $4.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $178.53. The stock had a trading volume of 107,360,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,186,727. The business's 50 day moving average price is $165.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.57. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.
Insider Activity at Alphabet
In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 216,195 shares of company stock valued at $35,764,898 over the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho cut their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.95.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on GOOGL
Alphabet Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
Further Reading

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