Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Increased by Kanawha Capital Management LLC

Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 157,198 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,043 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.9% of Kanawha Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Kanawha Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 16,993.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,483,898,000 after buying an additional 15,968,487 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,178,470,000 after buying an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,635,878,000 after buying an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $174.36 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $169.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.44, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,575,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 255,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,695,000. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $205.00 price target (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas Exane restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded 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. Ten investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $200.13.

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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