Financial Strategies Group Inc. Acquires 287 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Financial Strategies Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 19.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,777 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Financial Strategies Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $278,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $235.00 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $235.76. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $195.79 and a 200 day moving average of $175.41. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. Westpark Capital raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $172.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $492,281,408.64. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

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.