Round Hill Asset Management Buys 9,304 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Round Hill Asset Management significantly increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 497.3% during Q1, owning a total of 11,175 shares valued at approximately $1.7 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Guardian Wealth Management Inc. and NBZ Investment Advisors LLC, also expanded their stakes in Alphabet during the same period, with institutional investors now owning 40.03% of the stock.
• Alphabet recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.31, exceeding analyst expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 to be paid on September 15th.

Round Hill Asset Management raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 497.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,175 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,304 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.2% of Round Hill Asset Management's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Round Hill Asset Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Adams Wealth Management raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Adams Wealth Management now owns 19,344 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,991,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.0% during the first quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 35,757 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,529,000 after purchasing an additional 3,248 shares during the period. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Alphabet by 170.0% in the 1st quarter. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. now owns 59,734 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,237,000 after buying an additional 37,609 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 1,474,096 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $227,954,000 after buying an additional 33,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 8,522 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,318,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL traded up $6.34 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $206.09. The company had a trading volume of 42,770,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,218,810. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $186.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.37. The company has a market cap of $2.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $208.54.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim increased their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $172.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172 over the last quarter. Company 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.