Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 625 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 14,246,573 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the fourth 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. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total value of $5,483,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,587,696 shares in the company, valued at $436,570,192.16. The trade was a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $178.79 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $163.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.