Steph & Co. Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Steph & Co. raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 54.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 682 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 239 shares during the quarter. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,360.0% during the 3rd quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,329,000 after buying an additional 102,000 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,746,764,000 after acquiring an additional 12,070,681 shares during the last quarter. Prospector Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 64,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,450,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 142,730 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,678,000 after purchasing an additional 9,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IronBridge Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. IronBridge Private Wealth LLC now owns 32,349 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,798 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total value of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 12,084 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.19, for a total transaction of $1,826,979.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,365,523.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 158,458 shares of company stock worth $26,375,053. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $179.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The business’s 50-day moving average is $170.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.35 and a 1 year high of $180.89.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. Citigroup increased their price target on Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.26.

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.