Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Grows Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 26.7%, acquiring an additional 211,027 shares in the 2nd quarter, bringing its total holdings to approximately 1,001,209 shares valued at $176 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds now control 40.03% of Alphabet's stock, with notable increases from entities like Vanguard Group and UBS in the latest quarter.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, yielding 0.3%, with a low payout ratio of 8.95%, indicating strong financial health.

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 26.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,001,209 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 211,027 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.2% of Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $176,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the first 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 period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock traded up $2.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $254.72. 55,452,697 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,953,800. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $209.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.41. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $256.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.54.

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.