Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's 9th Largest Position

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 12.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,200 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,410 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.9% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.32.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,094,245.74. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,409 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,710 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $1.72 on Monday, hitting $191.46. The company had a trading volume of 10,084,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,871,352. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $175.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Alphabet 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.