Davidson Investment Advisors Decreases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Davidson Investment Advisors lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 10.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 472,365 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 53,292 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 3.6% of Davidson Investment Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Davidson Investment Advisors' holdings in Alphabet were worth $73,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,470,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,189,592 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $19,894,651,000 after buying an additional 1,219,606 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,376,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 16.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,455,571,000 after purchasing an additional 294,556 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $178.82. 17,821,947 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,329,217. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50-day moving average is $170.87 and its 200 day moving average is $175.30. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Barclays reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Lake Street Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $207.63.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,620,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $447,712,890.52. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Company 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.