Diversify Advisory Services LLC Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Diversify Advisory Services LLC has increased its stock position in Alphabet Inc. by 68.7%, owning 233,289 shares valued at approximately $41 million, making it the company's 11th largest investment.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Alphabet's growth, with several brokerages raising their price targets, with a consensus target price of $244.62 and a rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insider trading activity has been notable, with significant share sales by executives, including Amie Thuener O'toole and John Kent Walker, who sold shares valued at over $4 million combined.

Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 68.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 233,289 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 95,038 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.6% of Diversify Advisory Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Diversify Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $41,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 11,267,743 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,742,444,000 after purchasing an additional 86,670 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 103,870 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $16,062,000 after purchasing an additional 9,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.6% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 25,019 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,869,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $294.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $244.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 953 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.20, for a total transaction of $229,863.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,171,312.80. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.3%

GOOGL stock opened at $241.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $256.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $225.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 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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