Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Bought by Vantage Point Financial LLC

Key Points

• Vantage Point Financial LLC increased its Alphabet stake by 45.5% in the first quarter, adding 2,101 shares to bring its total to 6,714 shares worth about $1.93 million.
• Alphabet reported strong Q2 results, with EPS of $9.11 topping estimates by a wide margin and revenue of $119.8 billion also beating expectations. News around the company highlighted robust growth in Google Cloud and continued strength in search, advertising, and YouTube.
• Analysts remain bullish on GOOGL, with several raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $414.54. Alphabet also recently boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21.

Vantage Point Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 45.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,714 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,101 shares during the period. Vantage Point Financial LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. EMC Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total value of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,345,358.56. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Arete Research increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $445.00 target price (up from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $414.54.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates by a wide margin, signaling strong underlying business momentum. Alphabet (GOOGL) Beats Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud’s 82% growth suggests Alphabet’s AI spending is translating into faster cloud demand and improving monetization. Google quarterly cloud revenue growth beats expectations
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube ad revenue growth and strength across search and advertising add evidence that core businesses are still healthy. YouTube Ad Revenue Rises 13% In Q2 To Surpass $11 Billion, Helping To Drive Strong Report By Parent Alphabet

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5%

GOOGL opened at $342.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.82 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $366.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $338.86.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $6.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's payout ratio is 6.71%.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.

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