Apella Capital LLC Purchases 4,305 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Apella Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 50.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,820 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,305 shares during the quarter. Apella Capital LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $5.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $173.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 35,701,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,134,333. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $159.81 and a 200-day moving average of $174.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638 over the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup raised their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. DZ Bank lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

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.