AlphaQuest LLC Grows Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC has increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 40.2% in Q1, now owning 7,552 shares worth approximately $1.17 million.
• Several institutional investors have also significantly increased their stakes, with Guardian Wealth Management lifting its position by 242.9% during the same period.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Alphabet, with Wedbush raising theirs from $200 to $225, while the average target price is now $211.53.

AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 40.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,552 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,167 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This represents a 12.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Loop Capital restated a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, August 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded up $4.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $211.64. 32,311,202 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,175,680. 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 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $212.22. The company has a market cap of $2.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $188.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96.43 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%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.