Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Position Raised by Washington Growth Strategies LLC

Key Points

• Washington Growth Strategies LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1,964.5% during the 2nd quarter, acquiring an additional 3,045 shares, bringing their total holdings to 3,200 shares valued at $564,000.
• Several hedge funds, including Brighton Jones LLC and GAMMA Investing LLC, also boosted their positions in Alphabet, indicating strong institutional interest as 40.03% of the company's stock is owned by institutional investors.
• Alphabet's stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a price target of $245.88, reflecting analysts' confidence following a strong quarterly earnings report that exceeded expectations.

Washington Growth Strategies LLC lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1,964.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,200 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,045 shares during the quarter. Washington Growth Strategies LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $564,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 103,870 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $16,062,000 after buying an additional 9,900 shares in the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 3,235 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $193,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Roth Capital increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $245.88.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $236.57 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00. The company's fifty day moving average is $226.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.66. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $256.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Equities research 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 was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

About Alphabet

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.

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