OneAscent Financial Services LLC Boosts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 14.1%, acquiring an additional 2,680 shares to bring its total to 21,752 shares valued at approximately $3.39 million.
• Insider selling has been notable, with Director Kavitark Ram Shriram selling 18,566 shares for a total of $3.45 million, indicating a 7.09% decrease in his ownership.
• Alphabet Inc. announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, set to be paid on September 15th, reflecting a 0.43% dividend yield.

OneAscent Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 14.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,752 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,680 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 16,993.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,483,898,000 after purchasing an additional 15,968,487 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 249,298 shares of company stock valued at $43,505,967. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Westpark Capital upped their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.39.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $0.78 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $196.53. 32,265,287 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 37,021,776. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.00. 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 quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The business's 50 day moving average is $177.49 and its 200-day moving average is $173.11.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

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.