Aries Wealth Management Acquires 1,097 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Aries Wealth Management increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,637 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.6% of Aries Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Aries Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 87.5% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.58, for a total value of $3,973,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,235,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $394,746,532.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total value of $266,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $663,107.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.58, for a total transaction of $3,973,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,235,511 shares in the company, valued at $394,746,532.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 155,883 shares of company stock valued at $26,705,320 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $176.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.74.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $163.38 on Tuesday. 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 current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.