Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Position Reduced by C WorldWide Group Holding A S

C WorldWide Group Holding A S lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,013,390 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 49,440 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 5.8% of C WorldWide Group Holding A S's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. C WorldWide Group Holding A S's holdings in Alphabet were worth $470,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 111.8% in the first 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 period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 215,843 shares of company stock valued at $37,288,490. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ GOOG traded up $1.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $185.94. 20,915,424 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,558,739. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $174.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 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 (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 analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

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.