D.A. Davidson & CO. Boosts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 437,910 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,793 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $67,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $205.00 target price (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Ten research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $200.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $177.62. 29,191,793 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 31,781,953. The company's 50 day moving average price is $169.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

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.