Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC

Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,569 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,268 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.8% of Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 164,533 shares of company stock worth $26,772,774. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded down $2.09 on Friday, hitting $170.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 36,230,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,270,834. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $160.92 and a 200-day moving average of $176.39. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.94.

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.