Hodges Capital Management Inc. Buys 2,302 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 17.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,214 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 59.2% during the first quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $159.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $166.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $165.17. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $191.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.08.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet 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 in the company, valued at approximately $392,588,151.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $392,588,151.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 180,167 shares of company stock worth $30,139,931 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.