Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Purchases 1,508 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,907 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,508 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its position in Alphabet by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,329,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.8%

Alphabet stock opened at $182.81 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $171.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.68. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $207.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,575,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 255,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,695,000. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 215,443 shares of company stock valued at $36,298,548 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

About Alphabet

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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