Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $319.32 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 4.3%, acquiring an additional 83,809 shares, bringing its total ownership to 2,043,900 shares valued at approximately $319.3 million.
• A number of analysts have raised their price targets for Alphabet, with JPMorgan Chase setting a new target of $232 and Scotiabank increasing theirs to $240, reflecting positive sentiment towards the stock.
• Alphabet is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.21 on September 15, targeting a 0.4% dividend yield, with a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,043,900 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 83,809 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $319,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 249,399 shares of company stock valued at $43,525,794 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Barclays reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $5.80 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $195.75. 23,350,404 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,139,204. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $2.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $179.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.39.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business 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. 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 dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

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.