Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 33,721 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC has significantly increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 629.7% during the first quarter, making their holdings in the company worth $6,043,000.
• Several brokerages have raised their price targets for Alphabet, with Barclays increasing their target from $220.00 to $235.00 and Needham & Company boosting it from $210.00 to $220.00.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, providing a yield of 0.4% based on its payout ratio of 8.95%.

Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 629.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,076 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 33,721 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.7% of Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.2%

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $6.34 on Friday, reaching $206.09. The stock had a trading volume of 42,770,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,370,868. The company has a 50-day moving average of $186.81 and a 200 day moving average of $173.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $2.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $208.54.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

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.