8,084 Shares in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Purchased by WNY Asset Management LLC

WNY Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 8,084 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,325,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co lifted its position in Alphabet by 142.9% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $354.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $196.60 and a one year high of $408.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $355.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $340.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.42%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue reportedly increased 82% in the second quarter, with backlog reaching $514 billion, while the Gemini app reached approximately 950 million monthly active users. The results reinforce the commercial demand supporting Alphabet’s AI and cloud investments. Google’s AI business is booming, so why are DeepMind’s biggest names quitting?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to highlight Alphabet’s strong cash generation, balance sheet and valuation relative to its growth prospects. Some market models see the shares reaching $400 as Cloud momentum and AI monetization continue. Price Prediction: Google Will Hit $400 on This Date
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s expanded Google Cloud partnership with AI lab Mirendil, reportedly worth more than $100 million over multiple years, provides another example of demand for its computing infrastructure. Mirendil Google Cloud deal

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 600,547 shares of company stock worth $16,255,540. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. President Capital lifted their price target on Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. China Renaissance upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $419.86.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.