RFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 20.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,158 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,057 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA now owns 3,555 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tempus Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Alphabet Stock Performance
NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $1.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $169.39. 18,476,447 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,268,888. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given 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 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 163,270 shares of company stock valued at $26,553,563. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Benchmark reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.88.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Alphabet
Alphabet Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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