Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,303 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 140 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Partnership Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 12,084 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.19, for a total transaction of $1,826,979.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 48,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,365,523.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,958 shares of company stock worth $22,383,553. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $180.26 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $171.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.83 and a 52-week high of $182.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.