Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC's 6th Largest Position

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 427,793 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,788 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 2.4% of Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $66,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mystic Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.7% during the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,187,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.1% during the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optivise Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.39.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded down $3.09 on Friday, reaching $188.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,717,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,048,895. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $177.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.12. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.