Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. by 70.8% during the first quarter, owning 11,125 shares worth approximately $1.74 million.
• Alphabet's latest earnings report showed an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.31, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 13.8%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, yielding an annualized rate of 0.4%, with a dividend payout ratio of 8.95%.

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 70.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,125 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,613 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.0% of Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $195.75 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company's 50-day moving average is $179.89 and its 200 day moving average is $174.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. 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 $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.

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