Balance Wealth LLC Invests $536,000 in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Balance Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,433 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $536,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its holdings in Alphabet by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% during the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,527,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $174.88. 8,198,447 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,701,416. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $167.33 and a 200 day moving average of $176.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The company has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total transaction of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,544.70. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.68, for a total value of $5,742,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,555,196 shares in the company, valued at $451,452,029.28. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 216,195 shares of company stock worth $35,764,898. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Alphabet

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.