Leavell Investment Management Inc. Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 98,777 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,757 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in Alphabet by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $96,465,000 after purchasing an additional 20,855 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 82,690 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,747,000 after acquiring an additional 7,548 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $1,551,533,000. Finally, SoundView Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $3,619,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Barclays reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $207.63.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $177.66 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $170.87 and its 200-day moving average is $175.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

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.

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