Gradient Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Gradient Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,245 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.2% of Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 87.5% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Armor Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $185.82 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $173.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.17. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.35 and a 52-week high of $186.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly 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 for 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 period last year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at $362,516,961.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,043.96. 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 quarter. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Alphabet from $141.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Alphabet from $176.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.