Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 7.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 487,894 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 32,608 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.8% of Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $76,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Graybill Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Alphabet
Insider Activity at Alphabet
In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 directly owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Alphabet Price Performance
NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $8.0060 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $208.6260. 13,868,711 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,643,541. 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $187.09 and its 200-day moving average is $174.87. The firm has a market cap of $2.52 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.
About Alphabet
(
Free Report)
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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