BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 162,964 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,105 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 2.3% of BTC Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. BTC Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $25,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Alphabet by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,559,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,582 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 4,383 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $830,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,490,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity
In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38% 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, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,533 shares of company stock valued at $26,772,774 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have commented on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.
Read Our Latest Report on GOOGL
Alphabet Stock Down 1.2%
Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $2.13 on Friday, hitting $169.73. The company had a trading volume of 52,598,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,949,599. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $159.10 and a 200-day moving average of $174.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current 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 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.
Alphabet Company Profile
(
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Alphabet, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Alphabet wasn't on the list.
While Alphabet currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Need to stretch out your 401K or Roth IRA plan? Use these time-tested investing strategies to grow the monthly retirement income that your stock portfolio generates.
Get This Free Report
