Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 51,768 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 11.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 393,847 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 51,768 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.8% of Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $61,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 18,562.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 216,195 shares of company stock valued at $35,764,898 over the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.2%

GOOG traded up $3.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $178.27. 73,708,766 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,960,079. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $167.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.22. 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 $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

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.