Diligent Investors LLC Grows Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Diligent Investors LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 13.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,455 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the quarter. Diligent Investors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $169.39 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $161.29 and a 200 day moving average of $176.14. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Westpark Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.88.

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.