City State Bank Grows Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

City State Bank lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 11.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,509 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,765 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.9% of City State Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. City State Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the first 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. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 181,679.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $174.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50 day moving average price is $161.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 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 $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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