Bard Financial Services Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Bard Financial Services Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,355 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,735 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.1% of Bard Financial Services Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Bard Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Alphabet by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $18,672,198,000 after acquiring an additional 7,574,417 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Alphabet by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of GOOGL stock traded down $1.65 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $175.70. 20,879,613 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,364,105. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $161.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America raised their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

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.