CWA Asset Management Group LLC Raises Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 122,198 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,570 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.9% of CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,535,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,317,606,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $78,839,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307,345 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Alphabet by 307.6% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,302,644 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,593,201,000 after purchasing an additional 7,774,811 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,783,364,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Alphabet by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 33,403,871 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,034,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,537,173 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Phillip Securities lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $201.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Westpark Capital increased their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total value of $7,910,825.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,402,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,699,785.79. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 953 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.20, for a total value of $229,863.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,171,312.80. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475 in the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1%

GOOGL stock opened at $245.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $256.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $221.25 and its 200 day moving average is $185.80.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

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.