Advisors Asset Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 1.8%, owning nearly 597,000 shares valued at approximately $92.3 million.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid on September 15th, representing an annualized yield of 0.4%.
• The company reported earnings of $2.31 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, with a total revenue of $96.43 billion.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 596,896 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,327 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.7% of Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $92,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nia Impact Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Enzi Wealth increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $817,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,020 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,209 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Roth Capital boosted their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $222.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 in the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $235.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 46,562,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,713,716. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $195.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.48. 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 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $235.76. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 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 company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

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.