Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Increased by Savvy Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 23.1%, acquiring an additional 8,096 shares, resulting in a total of 43,137 shares valued at approximately $6.67 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Price T Rowe Associates, also raised their positions in Alphabet, evidencing strong interest in the company's stock.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share payable on September 15th, with an annual yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 23.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,137 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,096 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.7% of Savvy Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Savvy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after buying an additional 14,307,345 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $18,672,198,000 after acquiring an additional 7,574,417 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased 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 acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after purchasing an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Alphabet by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042,271 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 274,819 shares of company stock worth $49,796,547 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5%

Alphabet stock opened at $202.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $183.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.30.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

About Alphabet

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.

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