Darden Wealth Group Inc Sells 160 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Darden Wealth Group Inc decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,708 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.8% of Darden Wealth Group Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Darden Wealth Group Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after buying an additional 14,246,573 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 181,679.1% during 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 during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in Alphabet by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 261,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 215,843 shares of company stock worth $37,288,490 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock traded up $0.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $185.37. The stock had a trading volume of 4,272,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,480,670. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $173.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.40.

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.