Cerity Partners LLC Buys 58,829 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,835,419 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 58,829 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.1% of Cerity Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $526,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,864,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,425,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

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Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $2.76 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $156.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 27,453,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,219,362. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $167.87 and a 200-day moving average of $176.28. The company has a market capitalization of $1.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wedbush set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at $3,468,029.04. This represents a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 118,497 shares of company stock worth $20,837,150 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.