Goldstone Financial Group LLC Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Goldstone Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $241.38 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $242.57. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Phillip Securities cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet 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.