Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Has $36.06 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 233,185 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,859 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $36,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Alphabet by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $18,672,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,574,417 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Alphabet by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after buying an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Alphabet by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after buying an additional 10,135,430 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $168.21. The company had a trading volume of 34,550,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,112,347. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.38. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total transaction of $5,483,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,587,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $436,570,192.16. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.