Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,072,754 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,624 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.1% of Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $323,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $26,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOG. Scotiabank raised their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.1%

GOOG stock opened at $195.75 on Tuesday. 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 $2.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% 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.