Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,533,188 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,126 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 0.8% of Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $533,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 87.5% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Group LP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total transaction of $3,753,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,280,511 shares in the company, valued at $380,389,234.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total transaction of $3,753,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,280,511 shares in the company, valued at $380,389,234.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 275,129 shares of company stock worth $40,382,765. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.7 %

Alphabet stock traded up $2.76 during trading on Thursday, reaching $166.62. The company had a trading volume of 24,257,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,815,369. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.97 and a 12-month high of $174.71. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $149.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Redburn Atlantic lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $190.60.

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.

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