WPG Advisers LLC Makes New $644,000 Investment in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• WPG Advisers LLC has invested approximately $644,000 in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), acquiring 4,166 shares, which makes it the firm's 26th largest holding.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.4%, with the payment scheduled for September 15th.
• The company's market cap stands at $2.57 trillion, with a recent earnings report showing a net margin of 31.12% and revenue of $96.43 billion, exceeding analyst expectations.

WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,166 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $644,000. Alphabet accounts for about 0.6% of WPG Advisers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,490,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 Alphabet by 3.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 980 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $172.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Roth Capital lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,287,137.64. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $47,225,230 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $212.91. 39,702,089 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,138,272. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $190.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.96. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $214.65.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

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.