Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 61,121 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,246 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $201.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.88.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $236.57 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $256.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $226.31 and a 200 day moving average of $188.84.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 276,338 shares of company stock valued at $59,062,683. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

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.