Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD.

Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 28.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,847 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,087 shares during the period. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA now owns 3,555 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Tempus Wealth Planning LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $174.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $161.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.05. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.88.

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.