Avity Investment Management Inc. Sells 2,262 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Avity Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 241,480 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,262 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 3.0% of Avity Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $37,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,044 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 31,967 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,088,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $204,262,000. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 246.2% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after acquiring an additional 4,052 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. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $161.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.