Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Purchased by Level Four Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 2.4% during the first quarter, owning a total of 158,806 shares worth approximately $24.6 million.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which translates to an annual yield of 0.4%.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for Alphabet's stock, with a consensus estimate now at $211.53 and a rating of "Moderate Buy" based on the recent assessments.

Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 158,806 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,771 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.0% of Level Four Advisory Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Level Four Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172 over the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $207.48. The stock had a trading volume of 22,957,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,314,084. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $210.52. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.75. The company has a market cap of $2.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Roth Capital increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

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.