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

Kanawha Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 157,198 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,043 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.9% of Kanawha Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Kanawha Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its position in Alphabet by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,582 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,490,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $205.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. JMP Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $200.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,575,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 255,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,695,000. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928 in the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $2.26 on Wednesday, hitting $176.62. 42,988,099 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 31,724,461. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.69, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $169.31 and a 200-day moving average of $173.67.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

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.