Archford Capital Strategies LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Archford Capital Strategies LLC lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 21.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,988 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,220 shares during the period. Archford Capital Strategies LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG traded up $3.84 during trading on Friday, reaching $178.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 73,956,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,992,351. The company has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.22. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. 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:GOOG - 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 return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. 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 dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.88.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.68, for a total transaction of $5,742,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,555,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,452,029.28. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 216,195 shares of company stock worth $35,764,898 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% 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.