Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Bought by Marietta Wealth Management LLC

Marietta Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 89.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 171,463 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 80,719 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 3.9% of Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $30,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total transaction of $7,910,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,402,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,699,785.79. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 276,338 shares of company stock valued at $59,062,683 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $244.15 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $189.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $256.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.40.

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.