Columbia Asset Management Purchases 525 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Columbia Asset Management increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,158 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 3.0% of Columbia Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthcare Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Capital Management LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 13,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,426 shares during the last quarter. Wade G W & Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Wade G W & Inc. now owns 110,260 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,402,000 after acquiring an additional 19,880 shares during the last quarter. Barings LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Barings LLC now owns 32,786 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,580,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Capital LP raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Guardian Capital LP now owns 90,704 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,670,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3 %

GOOGL stock opened at $159.81 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $165.62 and a 200-day moving average of $165.13. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $206.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $206.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at $339,713,977.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at $339,713,977.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 180,167 shares of company stock worth $29,762,606. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.