Wakefield Asset Management LLLP Has $3.36 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 14.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,752 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,664 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.0% of Wakefield Asset Management LLLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 181,501 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,067,000 after purchasing an additional 3,734 shares in the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH now owns 63,558 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,829,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 5,585 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company’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 value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 249,298 shares of company stock valued at $43,505,967 over the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $196.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.39.

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.