Optima Capital LLC Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Optima Capital LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 26.8% during Q2, holding 7,404 shares valued at approximately $1.3 million.
• Insider trading activity showed significant sales, with CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares and John Kent Walker selling 23,820 shares, reflecting a decrease in their respective holdings.
• Analyst ratings for Alphabet are largely positive, with a consensus of 33 buy ratings and an average target price of $232.90, alongside a recent earnings report that surpassed expectations.

Optima Capital LLC grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,404 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,565 shares during the quarter. Optima Capital LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cardinal Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the second quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 67,840 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $11,955,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the period. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the second quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 8,662 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 18.5% in the second quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 76,719 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,520,000 after acquiring an additional 11,991 shares during the period. Crew Capital Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 58.8% in the second quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 12,545 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,211,000 after acquiring an additional 4,645 shares during the period. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.8% in the second quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 1,468 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total transaction of $8,108,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,397,392 shares in the company, valued at $598,149,304. This represents a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, June 27th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, Loop Capital restated a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $232.90.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $245.79 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $256.00. The firm's 50-day moving average is $214.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.46. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued 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 $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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