Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 58.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,014 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 12,959 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.9% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,582 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Capital & Planning LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 4,383 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,490,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $154,716,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Alphabet Stock Down 3.9%
NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $6.68 on Friday, hitting $166.64. The stock had a trading volume of 75,073,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,587,197. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The business's fifty day moving average price is $164.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.01.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - 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 the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wedbush set a $190.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Alphabet
Insider Transactions at Alphabet
In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 228,070 shares of company stock valued at $37,745,632. Insiders own 11.55% 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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