Liberty Wealth Management LLC Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Liberty Wealth Management LLC significantly increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 2,100.2%, acquiring an additional 331,031 shares, which now accounts for approximately 1.0% of its portfolio worth $54.18 million.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized amount of $0.84 and a dividend yield of 0.4%.
• In its latest quarterly earnings report, Alphabet reported earnings per share of $2.31, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.12, and generated revenues of $96.43 billion, which is a 13.8% increase from the previous year.

Liberty Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2,100.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 346,793 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 331,031 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.0% of Liberty Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Liberty Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $54,179,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Concentrum Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 17,328 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,300,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,605,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,263,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 10,648 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,664,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.1%

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $5.80 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $195.75. The company had a trading volume of 23,350,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,139,204. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $179.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.39. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

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.