Verus Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Verus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,602 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Verus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7%

GOOGL opened at $173.54 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $165.90 and its 200-day moving average is $174.57. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued 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 boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.68, for a total transaction of $5,742,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,555,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $451,452,029.28. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 216,195 shares of company stock worth $35,764,898. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Alphabet

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.