Zhang Financial LLC Buys 4,241 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Zhang Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,610 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,241 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total transaction of $5,483,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,587,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $436,570,192.16. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $175.70 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $162.29 and a 200-day moving average of $174.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.75.

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.