Carnegie Investment Counsel Has $97.35 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Carnegie Investment Counsel has increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 55.5%, making it the fifth largest position in their portfolio, now totaling 651,792 shares valued at approximately $97.35 million.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.4%, with a dividend payout ratio of 8.95%.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Alphabet, with upgrades predicting a consensus target price of $211.39, and the stock currently holds a "Moderate Buy" rating based on ratings from over thirty analysts.

Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 55.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 651,792 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 232,673 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.2% of Carnegie Investment Counsel's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in Alphabet were worth $97,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $42,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, 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 90 days, insiders sold 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $5.54 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $194.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,907,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,036,859. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The business's 50 day moving average price is $178.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $172.82. The company has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush raised their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.39.

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.