Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Bought by Marco Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Marco Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 6.4% in Q1, holding 92,796 shares valued at approximately $14.35 million.
• Several institutional investors also expanded their positions, with Guardian Wealth Management increasing its stake by 242.9%.
• Brokerages are optimistic about Alphabet's future, with multiple firms raising their price targets, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

Marco Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,796 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,617 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.3% of Marco Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Marco Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Alphabet by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $18,672,198,000 after buying an additional 7,574,417 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Alphabet by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after buying an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Alphabet by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after buying an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,503,291,000 after acquiring an additional 9,042,271 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim raised their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $0.43 on Thursday, reaching $196.52. 26,014,319 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,916,484. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $179.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.12. The company has a market cap of $2.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. 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:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

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.