Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 115,502 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,450 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Burt Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,005,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perritt Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Alphabet by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 618 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Stock Up 3.3%
GOOGL stock traded up $5.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $173.68. The company had a trading volume of 35,701,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,134,383. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.38. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush set a $190.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Alphabet
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638. Insiders own 11.64% 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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