First Heartland Consultants Inc. Has $2.57 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

First Heartland Consultants Inc. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,492 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,474 shares during the quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hutchinson Capital Management CA grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA now owns 3,555 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total value of $5,066,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,652,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $413,555,306.40. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 129,744 shares of company stock worth $20,968,366. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $165.32 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $160.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.94.

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.

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