Principal Securities Inc. Has $26.48 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 171,254 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $26,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $203.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 182,943 shares of company stock valued at $31,223,348. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $182.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 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.