Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 8.3%, raising its total holdings to 21,969 shares valued at approximately $3.41 million.
• Alphabet is receiving mixed ratings from analysts, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $215.19, while three analysts rated it as a sell.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with an ex-dividend date of September 8th, providing an annualized yield of 0.4%.

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,969 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,680 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded down $2.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $189.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,211,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,077,368. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.69.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were 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 directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Lake Street Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

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.