Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Foster Group Inc.

Foster Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,865 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 143 shares during the quarter. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Veracity Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 15,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 4,044 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 7,446 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 14,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,102,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $177.71 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.83 and a 12 month high of $182.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,566,519.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total value of $105,566.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,958 shares of company stock valued at $22,383,553 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.