Armistice Capital LLC Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Armistice Capital LLC grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 40.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 297,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,112 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.7% of Armistice Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Armistice Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $45,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in 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 period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $172.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.6%

GOOGL stock opened at $212.91 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $190.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $214.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $47,225,230 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.