Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by Heritage Investors Management Corp

Key Points

• Heritage Investors Management Corp increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 0.9%, acquiring an additional 3,808 shares, bringing its total holdings to approximately 423,981 shares valued at $65.57 million.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a payout ratio of 8.95%, set to be paid on September 15th.
• Research analysts have mixed ratings on Alphabet, with target prices ranging from $177.00 to $235.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and price target of $211.32.

Heritage Investors Management Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 423,981 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,808 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.2% of Heritage Investors Management Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Heritage Investors Management Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $65,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Alphabet by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $18,672,198,000 after acquiring an additional 7,574,417 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Alphabet by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,298 shares of company stock worth $43,505,967 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $4.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $192.04. 18,906,998 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,930,727. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.11. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.39.

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.