JLB & Associates Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

JLB & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 21.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,191 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,060 shares during the period. JLB & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. raised its position in Alphabet by 13.6% during the first quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. now owns 7,891 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,210,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 33,667 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,206,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 71,863 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876 shares during the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,476 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mason & Associates Inc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 124.7% in the 1st quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 15,788 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,442,000 after buying an additional 8,761 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532 over the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $173.32 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $164.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.73.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Bank of America boosted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

About Alphabet

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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