Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 209,578 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 632 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.6% of Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $32,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $177.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $162.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. 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 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was 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 $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total transaction of $5,483,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,587,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $436,570,192.16. This represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GOOG. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.88.

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.