Strategy Asset Managers LLC Buys 9,556 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 96,956 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,556 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 3.5% of Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $787,000. New Hampshire Trust increased its position in Alphabet by 2.7% during the second quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,963,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Matisse Capital increased its position in Alphabet by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 16,781 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,344,000 after buying an additional 2,026 shares during the period. Berkshire Money Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $359,000. Finally, Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP increased its position in Alphabet by 58.4% during the first quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 6,374 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 2,351 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $206.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.08.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total value of $3,991,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,213,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $392,588,151.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total value of $3,991,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,213,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $392,588,151.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 180,167 shares of company stock valued at $30,139,931 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $159.32 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $166.25 and a 200-day moving average of $165.17. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

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.