Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Boosted by Aspen Investment Management Inc

Aspen Investment Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 44.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,891 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,584 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.4% of Aspen Investment Management Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Aspen Investment Management Inc's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,328,000. Orca Investment Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC now owns 19,273 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares during the last quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 133,437 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $18,640,000 after purchasing an additional 3,083 shares during the last quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $416,000. Finally, LWM Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,008 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,623,355.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total transaction of $266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,727 shares of the company's stock, valued at $663,107.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $125,126.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 178,032 shares of company stock valued at $29,854,224 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $222.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $196.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.81.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $157.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,675,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,598,344. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $191.75. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $172.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $164.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

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.