Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Decreased by Rational Advisors Inc.

Rational Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 38.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,996 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 13,200 shares during the quarter. Rational Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 16,993.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,483,898,000 after acquiring an additional 15,968,487 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after purchasing an additional 10,135,430 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Alphabet by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $1.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $185.06. The company had a trading volume of 33,864,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 32,179,845. The company's 50-day moving average price is $172.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.12. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 1.30 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 posted its 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 company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business 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. 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 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.68.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 215,843 shares of company stock worth $37,288,490. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.