Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 38,556,577 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,859 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.1% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,962,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 8.8% in the first quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,579 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $169,960,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in Alphabet by 3.4% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 519,374 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $80,316,000 after acquiring an additional 16,995 shares during the period. Provident Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 0.9% in the first quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,794 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Harvard Management Co. Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 4.7% in the first quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. now owns 718,812 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $111,157,000 after acquiring an additional 32,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,494,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $489,572,657.16. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 274,219 shares of company stock worth $49,674,273 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Roth Capital raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $201.96 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $182.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

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.