Smith Group Asset Management LLC Purchases 8,707 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 219,224 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,707 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.5% of Smith Group Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Smith Group Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $33,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $176.79 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $169.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.67.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors 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. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,575,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 255,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,695,000. This represents a 3.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $203.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.95.

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.

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