GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,680 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,130 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.3% of GKV Capital Management Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st 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. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $212.91 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $214.65. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $190.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.11. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays upped their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. KeyCorp raised their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm’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 $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $47,225,230. 11.64% of the stock is currently 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.