Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 328.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,308 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $2,237,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.88.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $177.94 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average of $165.19 and a 200-day moving average of $176.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) 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 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 company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

About Alphabet

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.