WestEnd Advisors LLC Purchases 131,267 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

WestEnd Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 112.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 248,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 131,267 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.1% of WestEnd Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $43,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HSBC started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $285.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.57.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $251.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $230.51 and a 200 day moving average of $190.95. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $256.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.92, for a total transaction of $145,752.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,242,778.72. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total transaction of $25,042.39. Following the sale, the director owned 17,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,258.92. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 210,872 shares of company stock worth $46,980,865. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

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.