Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Position Decreased by Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY

Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 780,405 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 28,280 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.4% of Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY's holdings in Alphabet were worth $148,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LifeWealth Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $895,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $621,000. Infinitum Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,522,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $403,000. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,349,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG traded down $0.82 during trading on Thursday, reaching $172.56. 12,347,197 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,146,811. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $160.86 and a 200 day moving average of $176.45. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.42, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. 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 payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380. 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.