Marotta Asset Management Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Marotta Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,724 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 545 shares during the quarter. Marotta Asset Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its stake in Alphabet by 59.2% in the first quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $163.24 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The business’s fifty day moving average is $161.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.86.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total transaction of $4,113,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,204,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $403,141,173.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total value of $4,113,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,204,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $403,141,173.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 216,092 shares of company stock worth $35,644,136 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. TD Securities raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $206.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $196.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.95.

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.