Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Simon Quick Advisors LLC

Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 19.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,504 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,222 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.88.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $178.79 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date 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%.

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.