Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Purchased by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,802 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,065 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.95.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $178.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total transaction of $32,380.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,232,544.70. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 216,195 shares of company stock worth $35,764,898 in the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.