Cerity Partners LLC Has $492.68 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 33.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,173,396 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 801,638 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.0% of Cerity Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $492,677,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 181,679.1% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after buying an additional 7,221,746 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,575,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 255,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,695,000. This represents a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Lake Street Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $207.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $2.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $181.31. The company had a trading volume of 23,949,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,422,256. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $171.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.18. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Alphabet Company 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.