Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 908,650 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,954 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.5% of Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $141,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7%

Alphabet stock traded up $2.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $174.43. The company had a trading volume of 25,862,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,748,245. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $167.33 and a 200 day moving average of $176.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for 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 firm's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total transaction of $5,066,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,652,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $413,555,306.40. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 216,306 shares of company stock worth $35,782,927 over the last three months. 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.