Advisors Capital Management LLC Has $61.68 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. by 4.7% in the first quarter, owning 398,885 shares valued at approximately $61.68 million.
• Several analysts have raised their target price for Alphabet, with JPMorgan Chase increasing it from $200 to $232, reflecting a positive outlook on the stock.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, indicating a stable dividend payout ratio of 8.95% for the company.

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 398,885 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 17,933 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.0% of Advisors Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $61,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mystic Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.7% in the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,791 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.1% in the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 17.9% in the first quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,637,000 after acquiring an additional 13,371 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital upped their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush upped their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $221.44.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,383,200. This represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was 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 $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $239.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $241.66. The stock's 50 day moving average is $199.43 and its 200-day moving average is $176.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.47, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

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.

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.