Calamos Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 359,482 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,323 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.8% of Calamos Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Calamos Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $55,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $57,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of GOOGL 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. The company's 50-day moving average price is $169.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.57. The company has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. JMP Securities raised Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $203.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.61.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 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 transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,575,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 255,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,695,000. This represents a 3.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928 in the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.