Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by Wright Investors Service Inc.

Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 15.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,788 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,587 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 2.1% of Wright Investors Service Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after acquiring an additional 14,246,573 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Alphabet by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,376,066,000 after acquiring an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded down $2.66 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $167.71. 25,313,421 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,277,560. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month 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. The stock has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $160.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 163,270 shares of company stock worth $26,553,563 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday. Benchmark restated a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.88.

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.