First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,148 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,818 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 0.4% of First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after buying an additional 14,246,573 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after acquiring an additional 7,221,746 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts have commented on GOOG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.88.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Alphabet
Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet
In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Alphabet Stock Performance
GOOG stock traded down $1.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $178.79. The company had a trading volume of 18,967,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,464,403. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $163.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.21.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.
About Alphabet
(
Free Report)
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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