Simmons Bank Decreases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Simmons Bank lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,241 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,234,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,852,868,000 after purchasing an additional 4,348,188 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 11.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,649,838,000 after purchasing an additional 9,703,425 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,269,184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,550,942,000 after buying an additional 1,275,060 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,800,413 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,058,842,000 after buying an additional 481,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,744,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,658,122,000 after acquiring an additional 92,741 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.67.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $3.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $172.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 21,087,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,735,842. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $152.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.21. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $105.79 and a 12 month high of $176.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 275,129 shares of company stock worth $40,382,765. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.