Advisor Resource Council Invests $7.90 Million in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Advisor Resource Council purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 54,831 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,899,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,119,000. Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,741,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,816,000 after acquiring an additional 14,262 shares during the period. Finally, Absolute Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America raised their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to a "mkt outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.95.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $4.99 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $178.53. 107,360,667 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 31,186,727. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.01. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total transaction of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 216,195 shares of company stock worth $35,764,898. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.