Rockport Wealth LLC Makes New $11.91 Million Investment in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Rockport Wealth LLC has made a new investment of approximately $11.91 million in Alphabet Inc., acquiring 77,027 shares that make up about 4.2% of its portfolio.
• Several institutional investors, including Pershing Square Capital Management and Petrus Trust Company LTA, have significantly increased their stakes in Alphabet during the first quarter.
• Alphabet recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.31, which surpassed analysts' expectations, along with a quarterly revenue of $96.43 billion.

Rockport Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 77,027 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,911,000. Alphabet makes up approximately 4.2% of Rockport Wealth LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pershing Square Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 11.3% in the first quarter. Pershing Square Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,437,980 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $686,289,000 after acquiring an additional 451,492 shares in the last quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1,989.0% in the first quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA now owns 68,415 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,580,000 after acquiring an additional 65,140 shares in the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 24.1% in the first quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 1,647 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Plancorp LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 7.9% in the first quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 27,557 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,261,000 after acquiring an additional 2,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 12.1% in the first quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 1,627,231 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $251,635,000 after acquiring an additional 175,049 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2%

GOOGL stock opened at $235.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50 day moving average is $195.79 and its 200-day moving average is $175.48. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $235.76.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $222.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

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.

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