Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,397 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,923 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 0.9% of Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 4.1% during the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Community Bank N.A. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

GOOGL traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $182.00. 33,367,020 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 31,985,564. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $170.66 and a 200 day moving average of $173.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 215,443 shares of company stock worth $36,298,548. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $203.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wedbush set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.82.

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.