Congress Asset Management Co. Has $169.89 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Congress Asset Management Co. lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,098,606 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,952 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.3% of Congress Asset Management Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Congress Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $169,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total value of $5,483,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,587,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $436,570,192.16. This represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $173.68 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $160.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.35. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

About Alphabet

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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