Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 143,694 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,574 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 8.9% of Bennett Selby Investments LP's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Bennett Selby Investments LP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its position in Alphabet by 10.2% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 2.7% during the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%
Shares of GOOG traded down $1.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $176.97. 17,305,386 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,451,849. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.98, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50-day moving average price is $163.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.21. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 is currently 9.36%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.88.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on GOOG
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Alphabet news, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value 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. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Alphabet Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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