McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. Acquires 4,285 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 14.8% in Q2, owning a total of 33,315 shares valued at approximately $5.87 million at the quarter's end.
• Alphabet reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.31 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates of $2.15, with revenues amounting to $96.43 billion.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.3% and a dividend payout ratio of 8.95%.

McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 14.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,315 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,285 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 6.0% of McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Mystic Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,637,000 after purchasing an additional 13,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alaethes Wealth LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.1% during the first quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $222.85.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded up $10.81 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $251.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 58,263,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,999,380. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $252.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $201.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.58.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

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.