Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. Has $16.85 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 107,833 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,614 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 3.1% of Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $239.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.55, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $240.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $199.04 and its 200 day moving average is $177.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 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 company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.56.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,429,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet 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.