Sowell Financial Services LLC Buys 9,293 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 10.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 98,242 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,293 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 0.7% of Sowell Financial Services LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Sowell Financial Services LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5%

GOOGL stock traded down $2.63 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $173.32. The stock had a trading volume of 28,640,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,477,180. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day moving average of $164.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.73. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company'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 $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.75.

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.