Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Position Cut by Ameritas Advisory Services LLC

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 40,773 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,826 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3%

GOOG traded up $0.53 on Thursday, reaching $180.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,233,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,042,748. 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 $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The business's 50 day moving average is $169.27 and its 200 day moving average is $175.84. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,620,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $447,712,890.52. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 183,143 shares of company stock worth $30,529,028 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.38.

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.