Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Purchased by Aprio Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 12.6% in Q1, now owning 15,379 shares valued at approximately $2.38 million.
• Analyst ratings for Alphabet have been optimistic, with several firms raising their price targets to between $225.00 and $235.00, reflecting confidence in the stock's performance.
• Alphabet will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share on September 15th, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 12.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,379 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,723 shares during the quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock traded up $2.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $235.00. 46,562,292 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 33,713,716. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $235.76. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $195.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.48. The company has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 in the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $222.33.

Alphabet 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.