Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Bought by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 369,544 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 36,779 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.0% of Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $57,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $178.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 215,843 shares of company stock worth $37,288,490. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $0.61 on Thursday, reaching $183.58. 31,918,761 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,090,183. The company has a market cap of $2.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $172.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 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.