United Asset Strategies Inc. Acquires 15,078 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• United Asset Strategies Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. shares by 8.2% in Q1, owning 197,937 shares valued at approximately $30.6 million.
• Several hedge funds have recently expanded their stakes in Alphabet, with notable increases from Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC (28.6%) and Partners Capital Investment Group LLP (86.7%).
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, which will be paid on September 15th, representing an annualized yield of 0.4% for investors who are on record by September 8th.

United Asset Strategies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 197,937 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,078 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.8% of United Asset Strategies Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. United Asset Strategies Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $30,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Nia Impact Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,249,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Enzi Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the first quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.2% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $817,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.0% during the first quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,020 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,086,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 2.1% during the first quarter. Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,209 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $2.40 on Monday, reaching $208.49. The company had a trading volume of 29,895,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,370,868. 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 $2.52 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.20, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average of $187.44 and a 200-day moving average of $173.28. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $210.52.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, 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 90 days, insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

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.