Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is Strategic Planning Group LLC's 8th Largest Position

Strategic Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 101,119 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,860 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 3.1% of Strategic Planning Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Strategic Planning Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,587,696 shares in the company, valued at $436,570,192.16. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $169.81. 24,841,790 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,314,072. The stock's 50-day moving average is $161.29 and its 200 day moving average is $176.14. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

About Alphabet

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.