First Dallas Securities Inc. Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 97.9% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 4,796 shares, bringing its total holdings to 9,695 shares valued at approximately $1.5 million.
• Several institutional investors have also modified their positions in Alphabet, with Brighton Jones LLC increasing its holdings by 3.9% to 110,330 shares valued at about $20.9 million.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly earnings, with $96.43 billion in revenue and $2.31 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations.

First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 97.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,695 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,796 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,317,606,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 16,993.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,483,898,000 after acquiring an additional 15,968,487 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after acquiring an additional 14,307,345 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 307.6% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,302,644 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,593,201,000 after acquiring an additional 7,774,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,375,509,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $221.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,137.64. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $239.17. 35,068,645 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,741,039. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $198.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.17. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $241.66.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Alphabet Company 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.