MRA Advisory Group Sells 828 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

MRA Advisory Group decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,827 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 828 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.8% of MRA Advisory Group’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. MRA Advisory Group’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,470,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,189,592 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,894,651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,606 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Alphabet by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,376,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758,244 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted 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, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,455,571,000 after purchasing an additional 294,556 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $169.81 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $161.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total transaction of $5,483,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,587,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $436,570,192.16. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group decreased 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. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.88.

Alphabet 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.