Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Position Increased by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 297,000 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,288 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $46,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 117,219 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $19,206,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260 shares during the last quarter. Clark Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 48.5% in the first quarter. Clark Asset Management LLC now owns 8,029 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 2,622 shares during the period. Smart Money Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 24.6% during the first quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 13.5% during the first quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 107,367 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $16,774,000 after purchasing an additional 12,730 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 184.5% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 843,591 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $131,794,000 after purchasing an additional 547,104 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,620,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $447,712,890.52. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.38.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $180.22. 13,287,389 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,182,530. The company's 50 day moving average price is $169.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.71. The company has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. 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 payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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.