Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Boosted by Sandy Cove Advisors LLC

Sandy Cove Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,244 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 151 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.8% of Sandy Cove Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $15,441,917,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $68,980,354,000 after buying an additional 6,374,756 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in Alphabet by 39,754.9% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 6,025,667 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $841,725,000 after buying an additional 6,010,548 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 4,894.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,445,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,606,670,000 after acquiring an additional 5,336,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $407,367,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $185.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $173.92 and a 200-day moving average of $155.17. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.35 and a 52 week high of $186.09. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.67, for a total value of $113,668.94. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,880,764.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.67, for a total value of $113,668.94. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,880,764.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 123,788 shares of company stock valued at $21,143,403 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.66.

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.