Balance Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,761 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $272,000.
A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Stock Up 2.9%
GOOGL stock opened at $178.53 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.26.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.95.
Read Our Latest Report on Alphabet
Insider Activity
In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 216,195 shares of company stock valued at $35,764,898 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Read More
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOGL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Alphabet, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Alphabet wasn't on the list.
While Alphabet currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Thinking about investing in Meta, Roblox, or Unity? Enter your email to learn what streetwise investors need to know about the metaverse and public markets before making an investment.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.