Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 467,958 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 38,577 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.7% of Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG's holdings in Alphabet were worth $73,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,573 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $0.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $177.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,459,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,511,727. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $165.19 and a 200-day moving average of $176.43. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.88.

Alphabet Company 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.