Kestra Investment Management LLC Has $2.05 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 262.9%, acquiring an additional 9,509 shares to bring its total to 13,126 shares, valued at approximately $2.05 million.
• Analysts generally rate Alphabet with a consensus of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.56, with five analysts giving it a Strong Buy rating.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, set to be paid on September 15th, with a current annualized yield of 0.4%.

Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 262.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,126 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,509 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.5%

GOOG traded up $5.78 on Tuesday, reaching $239.94. 22,727,434 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,278,212. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $199.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.55. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $240.59. The company has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.55, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Phillip Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Lake Street Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.56.

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.