Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Purchased by Cozad Asset Management Inc.

Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,274 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 400.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Robbins Farley increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 58.7% in the second quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Fairman Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 121.3% in the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $31,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $299.65 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $306.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $262.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.90. 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 company has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%.The company’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 8.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total transaction of $168,036.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,264,750.96. This trade represents a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.80, for a total value of $32,681.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,253,567.20. This trade represents a 0.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 227,952 shares of company stock valued at $58,896,009 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.81.

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.