Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Buys 1,777 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,114 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,777 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $2.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $180.19. 34,243,157 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 37,750,108. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $169.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.57. The company has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owned 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. JMP Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, June 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.61.

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.