Ascent Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 151,859 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,577 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.0% of Ascent Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $26,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 10.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 103,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $16,062,000 after buying an additional 9,900 shares during the period. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% during the first quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,534 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,711,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,140,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.1%

GOOGL opened at $236.57 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $256.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush raised their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.88.

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.