Albion Financial Group UT Purchases 1,691 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 264,213 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,691 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.9% of Albion Financial Group UT's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Albion Financial Group UT's holdings in Alphabet were worth $40,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,005,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Perritt Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 618 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,249,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Hanlon Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,553 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $179.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The firm's fifty day moving average is $168.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.87.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during 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 last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% 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, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total transaction of $5,553,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,620,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $447,712,890.52. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $203.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wedbush set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.95.

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.

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