Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,247,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,486 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.7% of Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $194,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% during the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,329,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,527,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, jvl associates llc lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the first quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $185.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $173.39 and its 200 day moving average price 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Westpark Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.40.

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.