Centre Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 87,087 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,531,000. Alphabet comprises 3.5% of Centre Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 140.6% during the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,734 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,806,000 after acquiring an additional 8,610 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Stock Down 1.2%
Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded down $2.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $170.87. The company had a trading volume of 36,230,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,270,834. 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 simple moving average of $160.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.39. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.94.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on GOOG
Insider Activity
In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. 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 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.
About Alphabet
(
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.
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