NBC Securities Inc. Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 100,083.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,057 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 31,026 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after buying an additional 14,246,573 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,376,066,000 after buying an additional 7,221,746 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $2.24 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $171.63. The company had a trading volume of 10,626,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,257,347. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $161.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.14. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. 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 issued its quarterly 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 analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.49%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Benchmark restated a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.