Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 890,696 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 11,069 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.6% of Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $169,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Alphabet by 16.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its position 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 valued at $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,376,706,000 after buying an additional 5,758,244 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.94.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the sale, the director now owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total value of $5,075,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,685,196 shares in the company, valued at $419,320,207.36. This trade represents a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 146,824 shares of company stock valued at $25,086,603. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $166.05 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.25.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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.