Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 20.1% during the first quarter, purchasing an additional 12,420 shares, bringing its total to 74,363 shares valued at approximately $11.5 million.
• Insiders at Alphabet have sold a total of 254,710 shares valued at about $49.2 million over the last three months, indicating potential shifts in executive confidence.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid on September 15th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.4%.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 20.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 74,363 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 12,420 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $4,317,606,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 16,993.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,483,898,000 after acquiring an additional 15,968,487 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307,345 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $1,375,509,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock traded up $1.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $240.37. 30,544,923 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,138,924. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $242.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price 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. BNP Paribas Exane reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Three equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $221.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

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.