Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is Smith Salley Wealth Management's 8th Largest Position

Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 256,652 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,414 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 2.6% of Smith Salley Wealth Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Smith Salley Wealth Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $40,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.38.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 255,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,695,000. This represents a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $180.22. 13,287,389 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,210,158. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50 day moving average is $169.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Alphabet Company 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.