Independent Advisor Alliance Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1.0%, now holding 265,812 shares valued at approximately $41.53 million, making it the fund's 10th largest position.
• Recent analyst reports have raised price targets for Alphabet, with key ratings including a target price of $245.00 from Pivotal Research, suggesting strong investor confidence.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting a modest annual yield of 0.4%, with a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 265,812 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,654 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.4% of Independent Advisor Alliance's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Independent Advisor Alliance's holdings in Alphabet were worth $41,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after acquiring an additional 9,687,855 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after purchasing an additional 9,243,959 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,376,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758,244 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,455,571,000 after purchasing an additional 294,556 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 274,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,674,273 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $2.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $204.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,850,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,512,336. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $183.25 and a 200-day moving average of $174.55.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

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.