1,890 Shares in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Acquired by RPG Investment Advisory LLC

Key Points

• RPG Investment Advisory LLC has acquired a new position in Alphabet Inc., purchasing 1,890 shares valued at approximately $292,000 during the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Alphabet, with updates ranging from BMO Capital Markets' increased price target of $225 to BNP Paribas downgrading its rating from "strong-buy" to "hold".
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid on September 15 to shareholders of record on September 8.

RPG Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,890 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $207.48. 22,957,401 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 30,314,084. The stock has a market cap of $2.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $188.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.75. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $210.52.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.