Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Holdings Increased by Fayez Sarofim & Co

Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 20.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,800 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,511 shares during the quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Mystic Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co grew its position in Alphabet by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,187,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5%

GOOGL opened at $202.94 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $183.65 and a 200-day moving average of $173.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GOOGL. Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 274,819 shares of company stock valued at $49,796,547. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

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.