Summit Global Investments Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Summit Global Investments reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 96.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,397 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 127,289 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments' holdings in Alphabet were worth $680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 16,993.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,483,898,000 after purchasing an additional 15,968,487 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,178,470,000 after purchasing an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.7%

GOOGL traded down $2.85 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $166.18. 44,925,348 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,874,418. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $159.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.53. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 1.34 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. 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 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 163,270 shares of company stock worth $26,553,563 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Company 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.