Souders Financial Advisors Sells 1,430 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Souders Financial Advisors lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,430 shares during the period. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Phillips Financial Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,173,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $492,677,000 after buying an additional 801,638 shares during the period. Covey Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC now owns 28,188 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,404,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 1,548,160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $241,869,000 after acquiring an additional 33,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.0%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $279.70 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $291.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $251.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,337,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,526,494.12. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 222,396 shares of company stock valued at $54,105,275. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities set a $279.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.81.

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.