Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 316,558 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,822 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.9% of Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $48,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,490,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 73,282 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,873,000 after purchasing an additional 13,564 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 242,319 shares of company stock valued at $44,243,272 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $201.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.20. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Company 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.

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