Cresta Advisors Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Cresta Advisors Ltd. raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 16.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,112 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,457 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.8% of Cresta Advisors Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Cresta Advisors Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 274,219 shares of company stock worth $49,674,273. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Westpark Capital lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.7%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $201.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $182.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Alphabet 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.

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