Wedbush Securities Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Wedbush Securities Inc. has increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc.(NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.1%, now owning 181,501 shares valued at approximately $28 million.
• Alphabet's CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares for about $5.8 million, reducing his stake by 1.25% to 2,559,892 shares.
• JPMorgan and others have raised their price targets for Alphabet, with a consensus target price now at $211.39 and a "Moderate Buy" rating from analysts.

Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 181,501 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,734 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.0% of Wedbush Securities Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Wedbush Securities Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.39.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $2.77 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $189.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 34,777,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,669,572. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $177.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.12. The company has a market cap of $2.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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