Baird Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 0.2% in the first quarter, now owning 2,058,300 shares valued at approximately $318 million.
• Alphabet's most recent earnings report showed earnings per share of $2.31, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting a 0.4% yield, to be paid on September 15th for investors who are on record by September 8th.

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,058,300 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,951 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $318,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $212.91 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $214.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 1.43 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. The business's fifty day moving average price is $190.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $47,225,230 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

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.

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