Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Acquired by South Plains Financial Inc.

Key Points

• South Plains Financial Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by **7.2%**, owning a total of **18,652 shares** valued at approximately **$2.88 million**.
• Alphabet reported **earnings per share of $2.31**, exceeding analysts' expectations, and generated **$96.43 billion** in revenue for the quarter.
• The company announced a **quarterly dividend** of **$0.21**, which will be paid to shareholders on **September 15th**, representing an annualized yield of **0.4%**.

South Plains Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,652 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.2% of South Plains Financial Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. South Plains Financial Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Nia Impact Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,249,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Enzi Wealth increased its position in Alphabet by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC increased its position 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 valued at $1,086,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the first quarter. Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,209 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $47,225,230. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Four investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock traded up $1.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $212.91. The stock had a trading volume of 39,702,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,893,466. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.05. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $214.65.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

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.