Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by Benin Management CORP

Benin Management CORP raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 9.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,477 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,768 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.4% of Benin Management CORP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Benin Management CORP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,470,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,189,592 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $19,894,651,000 after buying an additional 1,219,606 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Alphabet by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,455,571,000 after purchasing an additional 294,556 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.88.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $169.81. The company had a trading volume of 24,841,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,314,125. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $161.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.14.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total value of $5,483,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,587,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $436,570,192.16. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638. 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.