Liberty Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Liberty Wealth Management LLC significantly boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 3,921.1% during Q1, now owning 446,903 shares worth approximately $69.11 million.
• Insider transactions were noted, with significant stakes sold by key executives, including a 23,820 share sale by John Kent Walker valued at over $4.6 million.
• Alphabet declared a $0.21 quarterly dividend, scheduled for payment on September 15, with an annual yield of 0.4%.

Liberty Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3,921.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 446,903 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 435,789 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.3% of Liberty Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Liberty Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $69,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nia Impact Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,249,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,553 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $673,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Enzi Wealth boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.5% in the first quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.2% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.0% in the first quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,020 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,086,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 274,219 shares of company stock worth $49,674,273. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Roth Capital boosted their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $1.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $202.31. 9,922,316 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,638,750. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $2.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $182.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.02.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

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.