Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 499,019 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,235 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.7% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $77,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in Alphabet by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Stock Down 0.6%
Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded down $1.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $175.88. 20,848,122 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,511,658. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $164.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.34.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have commented on GOOG. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.88.
Get Our Latest Analysis on GOOG
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total transaction of $5,483,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,587,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $436,570,192.16. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.
About Alphabet
(
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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