Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by RiverFront Investment Group LLC

RiverFront Investment Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGFree Report) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 453,170 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 48,627 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 2.3% of RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $142,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after acquiring an additional 8,128,234 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Alphabet by 8.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,240,469,000 after buying an additional 7,904,434 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $678,198,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $869,781,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $455,745,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $384.84 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $338.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $322.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $163.33 and a one year high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,955,564. The trade was a 8.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at $14,293,309.12. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $372.65.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Alphabet

Alphabet Profile

(Free Report)

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)

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