Northeast Investment Management Sells 2,541 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Northeast Investment Management lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 550,040 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,541 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 4.0% of Northeast Investment Management's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Northeast Investment Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $85,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Alphabet Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $1.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $175.70. 20,879,613 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,364,105. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $189.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

About Alphabet

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.