Atwood & Palmer Inc. Raises Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,019 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,550 shares during the period. Atwood & Palmer Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Gibson Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.8% during the first quarter. Gibson Capital LLC now owns 2,821 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Terra Alpha Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% during the first quarter. Terra Alpha Investments LLC now owns 28,596 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,422,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,534 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,093,000 after buying an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC now owns 10,203 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,578,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% in the first quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 67,623 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,457,000 after buying an additional 2,973 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $1.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $175.70. 20,879,613 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,364,105. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

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.