Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC Sells 5,023 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 15.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,287 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,023 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 4.6% of Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,374,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 35.3% during the 1st quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,129 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,983 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,090,000 after buying an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 9,673 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,496,000 after buying an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 468,308 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $72,419,000 after buying an additional 13,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vantage Point Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. Vantage Point Financial LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.95.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total transaction of $32,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,544.70. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders have sold 216,195 shares of company stock worth $35,764,898. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.9%

Alphabet stock traded up $4.99 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $178.53. The stock had a trading volume of 107,974,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,238,454. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $166.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.52.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.