Smith Anglin Financial LLC Buys 609 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Smith Anglin Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 11.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,081 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. Smith Anglin Financial LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 163,270 shares of company stock worth $26,553,563. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.4%

Alphabet stock opened at $170.37 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $160.95 and its 200 day moving average is $176.24. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Westpark Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.88.

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.