Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 13.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,271 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,441 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.5% of Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages have commented on GOOG. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on GOOG
Insider Transactions at Alphabet
In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,494,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $489,572,657.16. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 222,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,725,772. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Alphabet Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $200.62. 11,704,522 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,722,807. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.37, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $186.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released 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 $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.
About Alphabet
(
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.
Further Reading
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
MarketBeat's analysts have just released their top five short plays for August 2025. Learn which stocks have the most short interest and how to trade them. Enter your email address to see which companies made the list.
Get This Free Report
MarketBeat All Access