Griffin Asset Management Inc. Has $7.71 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 67.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,846 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 20,101 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $174.67 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $162.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

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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