Davidson Kahn Capital Management LLC Purchases 681 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Davidson Kahn Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 40.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,379 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the period. Davidson Kahn Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% during 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 16.1% during 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 buying an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 181,679.1% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,376,066,000 after buying an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 228,070 shares of company stock worth $37,745,632. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $166.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $166.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.33. The company has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.51, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average 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.