Western Wealth Management LLC Acquires 2,851 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Western Wealth Management LLC increased its Alphabet stake by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, adding 2,851 shares to reach 92,042 shares worth about $28.8 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on GOOGL, with an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $413.33. Recent firm actions included new or reaffirmed buy ratings from Weiss Ratings, Wall Street Zen, Needham, and Stifel.
• Alphabet posted strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue expectations, and recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21.

Western Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 92,042 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,851 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.3% of Western Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Western Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.6% during the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.2% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $85,557,000 after buying an additional 48,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,495,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research reduced their price target on Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $413.33.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $376.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $347.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $325.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.00 and a 1-year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's payout ratio is 6.71%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s $10 billion investment is a high-profile endorsement of Alphabet’s AI and cloud growth strategy. Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion for AI goals, Berkshire to invest $10 billion
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet says demand for its AI products is exceeding available supply, supporting the case for heavier investment in compute infrastructure. Alphabet to raise $80 billion in equity capital for AI spending
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Frances Arnold sold a small block of 102 shares, a routine insider transaction that does not appear material on its own. Frances Arnold Sells 102 Shares of Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOGL Stock
• Negative Sentiment: The $80 billion capital raise raises dilution concerns and suggests Alphabet will spend heavily before those investments translate into returns. Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion from stock sales to fund AI buildout
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that EU cloud rules could limit Google’s access to strategic government tenders add a regulatory overhang for the company’s cloud business. Exclusive: EU cloud rules to curb Amazon, Google access to strategic tenders, draft document shows

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 225,516 shares of company stock worth $27,142,399 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google's core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google's consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.

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