Modera Wealth Management LLC Acquires 2,024 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 2.1% during the first quarter, now owning 96,963 shares valued at approximately $14.99 million.
• Several analysts have recently raised their price targets for Alphabet, with Morgan Stanley and Barclays setting targets at $205.00 and $235.00, respectively, indicating strong confidence in the stock's future performance.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid on September 15, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.4%.

Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 96,963 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,024 shares during the quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 company'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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $196.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $179.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.12. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Alphabet 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.

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