Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by Sterling Investment Management LLC

Sterling Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,330 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,721 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.0% of Sterling Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Sterling Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.88.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock traded down $1.82 on Thursday, reaching $176.97. The company had a trading volume of 17,305,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,459,389. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The business's 50-day moving average is $163.42 and its 200 day moving average is $176.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business'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 earned $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet 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.