Phraction Management LLC Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Phraction Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 22.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 88,505 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,155 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 5.0% of Phraction Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Phraction Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $191.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.88.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $236.57 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $226.31 and its 200-day moving average is $188.49. The stock has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $256.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 over the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.