Venture Visionary Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 9.9% in Q1, owning 241,540 shares valued at approximately $37.35 million, making it the firm's 11th largest holding.
• Alphabet reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.31 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue reaching $96.43 billion, above the anticipated $93.60 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.4% and a low dividend payout ratio of 8.95%.

Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 241,540 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 21,771 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.6% of Venture Visionary Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Venture Visionary Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $37,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $207.48. The company had a trading volume of 22,957,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,314,084. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $210.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $188.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% 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. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.