Bender Robert & Associates Sells 903 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Bender Robert & Associates lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 73,377 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 903 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.9% of Bender Robert & Associates’ holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Bender Robert & Associates’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 400.0% during the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Robbins Farley raised its stake in Alphabet by 60.0% during the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 58.7% during the second quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 276,338 shares of company stock valued at $59,062,683. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.00.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.0%

GOOG opened at $244.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $256.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $227.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.