Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Holdings Lifted by Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,986 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.3% of Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Meritage Group LP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 55.9% during the 4th quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8 %

Alphabet stock opened at $182.15 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $172.85 and a 200 day moving average of $154.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.35 and a 12-month high of $186.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 12.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Argus upped 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. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.66.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,213,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $392,588,151.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,213,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $392,588,151.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 146,284 shares of company stock valued at $24,534,393. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.