Maltin Wealth Management Inc. Boosts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Maltin Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 158.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,678 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,866 shares during the quarter. Maltin Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,527,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $5.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $174.92. The company had a trading volume of 22,239,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,389,186. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $161.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.73, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.88.

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.