Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Position Boosted by Marks Group Wealth Management Inc

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 161,386 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.7% of Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Robbins Farley boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $247.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $256.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.32.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.33.

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.