Souders Financial Advisors Purchases 2,543 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Souders Financial Advisors increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 31.3% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 2,543 shares to reach a total of 10,672 shares, valued at approximately $1.65 million.
• Alphabet's CEO, Sundar Pichai, sold 32,500 shares in July for over $5.8 million, representing a 1.25% decrease in his ownership.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid on September 15th, reflecting a 0.44% yield.

Souders Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 31.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,672 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,543 shares during the period. Souders Financial Advisors' holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 16,993.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,483,898,000 after purchasing an additional 15,968,487 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,635,878,000 after buying an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. 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, July 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.39.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded down $4.49 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $192.04. 18,906,998 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,930,727. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's 50 day moving average is $177.49 and its 200 day moving average is $173.11.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, the director directly owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 249,298 shares of company stock valued at $43,505,967 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

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.