Veracity Capital LLC Reduces Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Veracity Capital LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $2,237,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet by 16.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 261,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 163,270 shares of company stock worth $26,553,563 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $167.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average is $161.02 and its 200 day moving average is $176.18. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.