Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter, owning a total of 61,121 shares valued at approximately $10.77 million.
• Insider trading activity includes CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares for nearly $6.38 million, indicating a 1.29% decrease in his ownership.
• Recent analyst reports reflect mixed sentiment, with Phillip Securities downgrading Alphabet from "strong-buy" to "moderate buy," while other firms have raised their price targets significantly.

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,121 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,246 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,494,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $489,572,657.16. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 276,338 shares of company stock worth $59,062,683. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Phillip Securities cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Wedbush lifted their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $245.88.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.1%

GOOGL opened at $236.57 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $256.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $226.31 and a 200 day moving average of $188.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Alphabet 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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