Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Gouws Capital LLC

Gouws Capital LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,256 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,601 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 5.7% of Gouws Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Gouws Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,570,000 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 modified their holdings of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Objectivity Squared LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the first quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,605,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the first quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,263,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the first quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 10,648 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,664,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Lake Street Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.19.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $202.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.35.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,494,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $489,572,657.16. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.