Empowered Funds LLC Buys 55,755 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 24.2%, acquiring an additional 55,755 shares, bringing its total holdings to 286,057 shares valued at approximately $44.2 million.
• In a recent insider trading activity, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares for over $7.46 million, reducing his ownership by 1.32%.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, set to be paid on September 15th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.4%.

Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 24.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 286,057 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 55,755 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.6% of Empowered Funds LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $44,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AAF Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. AAF Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Vancity Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $11,385,000. Adalta Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Adalta Capital Management LLC now owns 43,592 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,741,000 after buying an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 143,282 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,157,000 after buying an additional 23,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 11,019 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,765,000 after buying an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,287,137.64. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.4%

GOOGL opened at $234.04 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $196.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $238.13.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $191.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Westpark Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $221.44.

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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