VCI Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

VCI Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 444.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,339 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 28,033 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.3% of VCI Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. VCI Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the first 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 bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $26,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $0.83 during trading on Friday, reaching $194.03. 18,929,009 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,199,385. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock's fifty day moving average is $176.33 and its 200 day moving average is $174.69. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 35.22%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 249,409 shares of company stock worth $43,523,710. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Pivotal Research increased their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 target price (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.19.

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.