Pacific Capital Partners Ltd Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Pacific Capital Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,582 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,327,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,094,245.74. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7%

Alphabet stock opened at $196.09 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $179.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.12. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

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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