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

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 11.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. 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 large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth 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 during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $96,465,000 after buying an additional 20,855 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 82,690 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,747,000 after buying an additional 7,548 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,551,533,000. Finally, Barings LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Barings LLC now owns 5,163 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $983,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was 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. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $1.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $178.92. 17,214,667 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,326,735. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company's 50-day moving average is $170.87 and its 200-day moving average is $175.30.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The company's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $207.63.

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.