Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Purchased by Southland Equity Partners LLC

Southland Equity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,696 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 387 shares during the quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.88.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $175.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $164.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.30.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

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.