Brighton Jones LLC Boosts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,040 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,787 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.6% of Brighton Jones LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.88.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.6%

GOOG stock traded down $1.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $175.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,848,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,511,658. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.34. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532. Company 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.