PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. Buys 1,386 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 10.8%, now holding 14,277 shares worth approximately $2.21 million.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings report revealed an EPS of $2.81, exceeding expectations, but revenue of $76.49 billion fell short of the estimate of $89.30 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.43%, to be paid on September 15th.

PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 10.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,277 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,386 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.2% of PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Alphabet by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $18,672,198,000 after buying an additional 7,574,417 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,178,470,000 after buying an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 249,298 shares of company stock valued at $43,505,967 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on GOOGL. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Roth Capital boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.39.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $4.62 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $191.91. 18,906,998 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,930,727. The stock has a market cap of $2.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.00. The company's fifty day moving average is $177.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

About Alphabet

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.