Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Has $6.99 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 11.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,710 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,697 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.8% of Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in Alphabet by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $96,465,000 after acquiring an additional 20,855 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 82,690 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,747,000 after acquiring an additional 7,548 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,551,533,000. Finally, Barings LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Barings LLC now owns 5,163 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $983,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.5%

Alphabet stock traded up $2.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $181.31. 23,949,486 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,422,256. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total value of $5,553,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,620,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $447,712,890.52. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" 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 issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $207.13.

Alphabet Company 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.