Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC

Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,506 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 594 shares during the period. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,315,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Alphabet by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,672,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,574,417 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Alphabet by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after purchasing an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $182.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $171.04 and its 200-day moving average is $173.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s 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 $1,575,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 255,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,695,000. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 182,943 shares of company stock worth $31,223,348. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.82.

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.