Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Peregrine Capital Management LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Peregrine Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 533,241 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 19,434 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.7% of Peregrine Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Peregrine Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $82,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insight Inv LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 114.4% during the first quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 37,909 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,862,000 after buying an additional 20,229 shares in the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% during the first quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc now owns 8,623 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. now owns 27,261 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,216,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 36.6% during the first quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 14,102 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,181,000 after purchasing an additional 3,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% during the first quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 22,713 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,512,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of GOOGL traded up $0.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $179.08. 21,689,729 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 31,590,492. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.87. 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:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm'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 $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.95.

About Alphabet

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.