Investment Partners LTD. Acquires 497 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Investment Partners LTD. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,874 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $42,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 215,443 shares of company stock worth $36,298,548. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $181.56 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $170.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wedbush set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.61.

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.