Covey Capital Advisors LLC Has $4.40 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Covey Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,188 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,168 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 5.1% of Covey Capital Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Covey Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $26,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $178.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.18. 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 $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total transaction of $5,553,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,620,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $447,712,890.52. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.80.

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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