Aspetuck Financial Management LLC Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Aspetuck Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 20,711 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,203,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.8% of Aspetuck Financial Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Pure Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 18.9% in the first quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,423 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,777,000 after buying an additional 3,884 shares during the last quarter. SOL Capital Management CO raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. SOL Capital Management CO now owns 13,616 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. TSA Wealth Managment LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. TSA Wealth Managment LLC now owns 1,592 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Security National Bank boosted its stake in Alphabet by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Security National Bank now owns 42,832 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,624,000 after purchasing an additional 4,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 4,853 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $763,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.95.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $179.21. 21,566,896 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 31,462,415. The stock has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $167.96 and a 200-day moving average of $174.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,575,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 255,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,695,000. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 183,143 shares of company stock valued at $30,529,028 over the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.