Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 2,171 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 261,359 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,171 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $40,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $173.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $165.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given 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 dividend yield of 0.48%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. 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 business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.88.

Alphabet Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.