Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 33.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,173,396 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 801,638 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.0% of Cerity Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $492,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $26,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total transaction of $5,553,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,620,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $447,712,890.52. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 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 $1,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Lake Street Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $207.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG traded up $2.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $181.31. 23,949,486 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,450,262. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $171.50 and a 200-day moving average of $174.92. The stock has a market cap of $2.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

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.