Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's 7th Largest Position

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,410,117 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 10,718 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 2.5% of Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $220,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the 1st 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. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. UBS Group reduced their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.88.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $2.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $180.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 32,875,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,446,042. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $162.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.20.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Alphabet's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Alphabet 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.