Union Heritage Capital LLC Takes $1.23 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Union Heritage Capital LLC invested approximately $1.225 million in Alphabet Inc., acquiring 7,920 shares in the first quarter.
• Alphabet reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.31 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.15.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing a yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Union Heritage Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,920 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,225,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several research reports. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, June 27th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.5%

Alphabet stock traded down $0.93 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $202.97. 8,120,594 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,489,773. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $184.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.62, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 274,819 shares of company stock worth $49,796,547. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.