Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by Joseph Group Capital Management

Joseph Group Capital Management raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,723 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,731 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.8% of Joseph Group Capital Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Joseph Group Capital Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 215,843 shares of company stock worth $37,288,490. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.68.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $1.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $185.06. 33,864,714 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 32,124,723. The firm has a market cap of $2.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $172.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

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.