Stephens Inc. AR Grows Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 286,553 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.6% of Stephens Inc. AR's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Alphabet were worth $44,313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,490,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 73,282 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,873,000 after acquiring an additional 13,564 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $185.06 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $172.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.01. 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 twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business 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 firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $203.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $171.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value 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 trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 215,843 shares of company stock worth $37,288,490. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

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.

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