Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Purchased by Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,986 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.3% of Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Meritage Group LP lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Armor Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 55.9% in the fourth quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 146,284 shares of company stock valued at $24,534,393 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $182.15 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $172.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.35 and a fifty-two week high of $186.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.66.

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.