Thompson Investment Management Inc. Has $25.82 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 166,984 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,062 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 3.9% of Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $25,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,232,544.70. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $175.70 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $162.29 and a 200-day moving average of $174.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors 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 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.