Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 171 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.0% of Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in Alphabet by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network lifted its stake in Alphabet by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 11,094 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. jvl associates llc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. Finally, Members Trust Co lifted its stake in Alphabet by 84.7% during the 1st quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 4,999 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 2,292 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Lake Street Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. The trade was a 1.32% 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 the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were 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. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of GOOG opened at $252.88 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $211.48 and its 200 day moving average is $182.24. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $256.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given 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 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.95%.

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.