Paragon Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Paragon Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,890 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $911,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $49,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $179.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,689,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,590,492. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $168.70 and a 200-day moving average of $173.87.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. JMP Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,575,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 255,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,695,000. This represents a 3.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

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.