Colonial River Investments LLC Grows Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Colonial River Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 155.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,689 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,068 shares during the period. Colonial River Investments LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,045,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $178.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average of $167.82 and a 200 day moving average of $176.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 216,195 shares of company stock worth $35,764,898 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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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