CapWealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

CapWealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,093 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,615 shares during the quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 9.8% in the fourth 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 during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 16,993.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,483,898,000 after purchasing an additional 15,968,487 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 17.0% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.24.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $0.97 on Wednesday, hitting $182.97. 33,066,989 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,044,822. The firm's 50-day moving average is $171.67 and its 200 day moving average is $173.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 183,343 shares of company stock valued at $31,296,140 in the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.