Aspen Investment Management Inc Acquires 1,209 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Aspen Investment Management Inc increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 10.4%, acquiring an additional 1,209 shares, bringing its total to 12,861 shares, valued at approximately $1.99 million.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid on September 15th, resulting in a 0.4% dividend yield.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet at an average price of $229.73, reducing his stake by 1.32% to approximately 2.43 million shares.

Aspen Investment Management Inc increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 10.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,861 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.9% of Aspen Investment Management Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Aspen Investment Management Inc's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at $492,281,408.64. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

GOOGL traded up $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $240.80. The stock had a trading volume of 26,758,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,407,372. The stock's 50 day moving average is $201.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.48. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $242.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $172.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Roth Capital increased their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $221.44.

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.